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MEMORIALS 


'ee  Life  aid  Character 


STEPHEN  T,  LOG 


XI  b  RA  FLY 

OF  THL 
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Of    ILLINOIS 

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MEMORIALS 


OF 


The  Life  ahd  Character 


OF 


STEPHEH  T.  LOGAK 


Faber-  suae  fortunae. 


SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.: 

H.   W.  PiOKKEB,  PrINTEE  AND  BiN'DEE. 

1882. 


13 

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CONTENTS 


Biographical  Sketch 3-18 

Posthumous  Honobs— By  Members  of  the  Sangamon  County  Bar: 

Remarks  of  Hon.  John  T.  Stuart 15-19 

Resolution  s 19-20 

Remarks  of  Hon.  Benj.  S.  Edwards 21-23 

Remarks  of  Governor  CuUom  23-26 

Proceedings  in  United  States  Coukt: 

Address  by  Hon.  David  Davis 27-31 

Response  of  Judge  Thomas  Drummond 31-34 

Action  of  the  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Springfield: 

Resolutions 35 

Remarks  of  Joseph  Wallace,  Esa 35-43 

Action  of  the  Sangamon  County  Circuit  Couet: 

Remarks  of  Judge  Charles  S.  Zane 44-50 

Address  by  General  Brayman 50-53 

COMMEMOPvATIVE  PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  ILLINOIS  SUPREME  CoUET: 

Presentation  of  Logan's  Portrait  by  Hon.  Milton  Hay 54-55 

Mr.  Browning's  Address 55-64 

Remarks  by  Hon.  John  D.  Caton 65-67 

Judge  John  M.  Scott's  .Address 68-71 

Chief  Justice  Dickey's  Response, 71-74 

Press  and  other  Obituary  Notices: 

Illinois  State  Journal 75-79 

Morning  Monitor 79-83 

Illinois  State  Register 83-84 

Hon.  Jas.  C.  Conkling's  Tribute 84-87 


BIOGEAPHICAL    SKETCH 


Stephen  T.  Logm. 


STEPHEN  Trigg  Logan,  the  eminent  subject  of  these 
memoirs,  was  born  in  Franklin  county,  Kentucky,  on 
February  24th,  1800.  His  paternal  ancestry  were  of  Irish 
or  Scotch-Irish  extraction,  his  great  grandfather  having 
emigrated  from  Ireland  and  settled  in  Augusta  county, 
Virginia,  about  the  year  1750.  On  the  maternal  side,  he 
was  probably  of  English  descent. 

His  father,  David  Logan,  is  described  as  a  man  of  plain 
manners,  but  of  strong  sense  and  sterling  integrity.  He 
died  in  Kentucky  about  1821,  in  the  prime  of  manhood. 

His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Mary  Trigg.  She  was 
the  daughter  of  Col.  Stephen  Trigg,  a  native  of  the  "  Old 
Dominion,"  who  came  to  Iventucky  in  1779,  and  lost  his 
life  in  the  memorable  and  disastrous  battle  with  the 
Indians  at  the  Blue  Licks,  in  August,  1782. 

His  grandfather.  Col.  John  Logan,  was  a  man  of  much 
prominence  and  influence  among  the  early  pioneers  of 
Kentucky ;  and  was  a  representative  in  the  Virginia  Legis- 
lature from  one  of  the  counties  of  Kentucky  before  the 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 


admission  of  the  latter  into  the  Union  as  a  State.  Subse- 
quently, he  was  a  member  of  the  convention  which  formed 
the  Kentucky  Constitution  of  1799,  and  held  during  several 
years  the  honorable  and  responsible  office  of  Treasurer  of 
that  Commonwealth. 

General  Ben.  Logan,  elder  brother  of  John,  and  grand 
uncle  to  our  Logan,  was  the  first  of  the  family  to  remove 
from  Virginia  to  Kentucky.  He  established  the  fort  or 
station,  known  as  "  Logan's  Fort,"  near  the  present  town 
of  Stanford,  in  Lincoln  county,  in  1776.  He  is  described 
as  a  man  of  great  activity  and  force  of  character,  who 
figured  conspicuously  with  Boone  and  other  famous 
pioneers  in  the  Indian  w^ars  of  the  period.  Gen.  Logan 
also  held  important  civil  positions,  and  died  at  an  advanced 
age,  highly  respected  and  esteemed.  His  son,  William 
Logan,  was  for  many  years  a  judge  of  the  Kentucky 
Court  of  Appeals. 

In  1802,  when  Stephen  T.  Logan  was  but  two  years  old, 
his  parents  removed  from  Franklin  to  Lincoln  county, 
where  his  mother  in  a  short  time  departed  this  life,  leav- 
ing him  half  orphaned  at  a  tender  age.  His  father 
afterward  married  again,  and  by  the  second  marriage  had 
other  children. 

Stephen  T.  received  his  early  education  in  Frankfort, 
the  capital  of  the  Commonwealth  and  seat  of  justice  of 
Franklin  county.  Here  he  was  also  employed  as  a  clerk 
in  the  ofiice  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  under  Martin  D. 
Hardin,  a  son-in-law  of  Gen.  Ben.  Logan,  and  father  of 
Col.  John  J.  Hardin,  of  Illinois.    While  in  the  discharge 


MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 


of  his  clerical  duties,  during  the  war  of  1812-14,  and  when 
only  thirteen  years  of  age,  he  made  out  the  commissions 
for  the  officers  of  Governor  and  General  Shelby's  com- 
mand, in  the  expedition  of  the  latter  to  our  northern 
frontier. 

As  a  boy,  young  Logan  was  remarked  for  the  quickness 
of  his  parts,  the  strength  of  his  understanding,  and  his 
rare  aptitude  for  both  study  and  business.  With  an  early 
bent  for  the  profession  of  the  law,  he  went,  in  1817,  to 
Glasgow,  the  seat  of  justice  of  Barren  county,  and  began 
the  study  of  law  under  the  tuition  of  his  uncle,  Judge 
Christopher  Tompkins,  (*)  an  eminent  jurist  of  southern 
Kentucky,  for  whom  he  cherished  a  warm  and  reverential 
affection  to  the  close  of  his  life. 

Continuing  his  legal  studies,  Mr.  Logan  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  at  Glasgow  before  attaining  his  majority,  but 
did  not  at  once  engage  in  practice.  Li  the  meantime  he 
supported  himself  by  teaching  school,  and  serving  as  a 
deputy  in  the  Circuit  Clerk's  office  of  Barren  county.  In 
the  latter  position  he  made  himself  familiar  with  the 
various  forms  of  legal  procedure,  and  acquired  much  of 
that  skill  and  facility  in  the  drafting  of  legal  documents 
for  which  he  was  noted  throughout  his  professional  life. 
Among  his  more  immediate  associates  and  contempo- 
raries, at  the  outset  of  his  career  as  a  lawyer,  were 
Solomon  P.  Sharpe,  B.  M.  Crenshaw,  Joseph  Underwood 
and  Cyrus  Walker — all  young  men  of  superior  talents 

*The  wife  of  Judge  Tompkins  was  Theodosia  Logan,  a  sister  of 
David  Logan,  the  father  of  Stephen  T. 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 


and  energy,  who  achieved  high  distinction  not  only  at  the 
bar,  but  in  the  political  arena.  With  such  competitors 
as  these  to  inspire  his  ambition,  Logan  entered  the  lists 
and  began  his  struggle  for  fame  and  fortune.  He  speed- 
ily acquired  business. 

Shortly  after  entering  upon  the  regular  practice  of  law, 
Mr.  Logan  was  appointed  Commonwealth's  Attorney  for 
the  Glasgow  Circuit,  and  discharged  the  delicate  and 
responsible  duties  of  his  office  with  singular  fidelity  and 
ability.  As  a  legal  practitioner  he  early  developed  those 
peculiar  traits  which  subsequently  gave  him  such  dis- 
tinction as  a  lawyer.  His  prompt  and  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  the  principles  of  law,  his  care  in  the  preparation  of 
cases,  his  command  over  complicated  facts,  his  analytical 
power  in  dealing  with  evidence,  and,  above  all,  his  clear, 
incisive,  animated  style  as  a  speaker,  won  for  him  jn  a  few 
years  an  established  reputation,  and  a  lucrative  clientage. 

On  the  25th  of  June,  1823,  Stephen  T.  Logan  was  united 
in  marriage  to  America  T.  Bush,  eldest  daughter  of 
William  Bush,  Esq.,  of  Glasgow.  Mrs.  Logan  was  a 
lady  of  refined  manners,  of  unaffected  piety  and  unpre- 
tentious benevolence.  She  departed  this  life  February 
24th,  1868,  in  the  62d  year  of  her  age.  They  had  eight 
children — four  sons  and  four  daughters — only  two  of 
whom  survive,  namely :  Mrs.  Ward  H.  Lamon,  and  Mrs. 
L.  H.  Coleman. 

David  Logan,  their  eldest  child  and  son,  was  born  in 
Glasgow,  Ky.,  April  5th,  1824.  He  received  his  educa- 
tion for  the  most  part  in  Illinois,  read  law  with  his  father. 


MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 


was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1843  or  '44,  and  practiced  his 
profession  for  a  few  years  in  Springfield.  In  1848,  or 
thereabouts,  he  removed  to  Oregon,  where  he  soon  took 
high  rank  as  a  lawyer ;  and,  engaging  actively  in  politics, 
was  twice  run  as  the  candidate  of  the  Kepublican  party 
for  Congress  from  that  State.  David  Logan  died  near 
the  town  of  Salem,  Oregon,  in  March,  1874. 

William,  the  second  son,  was  born  in  Glasgow,  August 
11th,  1826,  and  died  in  Sangamon  county.  111.,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1832. 

Christopher,  the  third  son,  was  born  in  Glasgow, 
December  23d,  1828,  He  was  educated  in  Springfield, 
111.,  and  upon  reaching  the  age  of  manhood  went  to  Cali- 
fornia, where  he  died  July  80th,  1850. 

.  Stephen  T.,  the  fourth  son,  was  born  in  Springfield, 
111.,  December  28th,  1840,  and  died  December  24th,  1848, 
at  the  age  of  eight  years. 

Mary,  the  eldest  daughter,  was  born  in  Glasgow,  Ky., 
August  18th,  1831.  On  June  11th,  1861,  she  was  married 
in  Springfield,  111.,  to  the  Hon.  Milton  Hay,  and  died 
here  March  4th,  1874,  leaving  two  children,  named 
respectively,  Katie  Hay  and  Logan  Hay. 

Sally,  the  second  daughter,  was  born  in  Springfield, 
111.,  August  27th,  1834,  and  was  married  to  Col.  Ward  H. 
Lamon  on  November  26th,  1861.  They  now  reside  in 
Denver,  Colorado. 

Jennie,  the  third  daughter,  was  born  in   Springfield, 


MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 


111.,  February  19th,  1843,  and  married  L.  H.  Coleman, 
Esq.,  on  October  4th,  1865.  They  have  four  children, 
named  respectively,  Logan,  Christopher,  Mary  and  Louis. 
Kate,  the  fourth  daughter,  and  youngest  of  the  family, 
was  born  March  17th,  1845,  in  Springfield,  111.,  and  was 
married  to  the  Hon.  David  T.  Littler,  September  15th, 
1868.  She  died  January  26th,  1875,  leaving  one  child,  a 
son,  named  Stephen. 

Stephen  T.  Logan  continued  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession in  Barren  and  the  adjoining  counties  of  Kentucky 
for  more  than  ten  years,  and  until  he  had  accumulated  a 
respectable  competency,  but  becoming  embarrassed  pecu- 
niarily, by  loaning  his  credit  to  friends  who  failed  in 
business,  he  concluded  to  seek  a  home  in  a  newer  State, 
where  he  might  more  easily  retrieve  his  broken  fortunes, 
and  provide  for  the  wants  of  his  growing  family. 

Accordingly,  in  the  spring  of  18£2,  at  the  age  of  32,  he 
removed  with  his  family  to  Illinois.  The  journey  was 
made  by  land,  with  carriage  and  wagons,  and  was  both 
long  and  tedious.  They  arrived  in  Springfield  about  the 
middle  of  May,  and  thence  settled  on  a  farm  near  the 
Sangamon  river,  some  six  miles  north-west  of  the  town. 
At  this  time  Mr.  Logan  contemplated  abandoning  his 
profession,  and  devoting  himself  to  agricultural  pursuits, 
but  his  great  talents  were  not  destined  to  be  thus  buried. 
Early  in  the  following  spring,  1833,  Mr.  Logan,  at  the 
instance  of  William  L.  May,  with  whom  he  formed  a 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T,  liOGAN. 


partnership,  came  to  Springfield,  and  resumed  legal  prac- 
tice. Of  Mr.  May  it  may  be  remarked  in  passing,  that 
he  was  a  gentleman  of  pleasing  address,  a  fair  lawyer 
and  clever  politician,  who  represented  the  Springfield  dis- 
trict (then  embracing  the  entire  northern  half  of  the  State) 
in  Congress  from  1834  to  1838.  The  other  resident  law- 
yers of  Springfield  at  this  date  were  John  T.  Stuart, 
Jonathan  H.  Pugh,  William  S.  Hamilton  (son  of  Alex- 
ander Hamilton),  James  M.  Strode,  Thomas  Neale,  James 
Adams  and  Thomas  Moffett.  Of  all  these,  Mr.  Stuart  is 
the  sole  survivor. 

After  his  permanent  settlement  here,  Mr.  Logan  speedily 
acquired  a  leading  position,  not  only  at  the  Sangamon 
bar,  but  in  the  State  at  large,  and  until  his  final  relin- 
quishment of  his  profession,  his  fame  was  ever  on  the 
increase.  In  January,  1835,  he  was  elected  by  the  Legis- 
lature Judge  of  the  First  Judicial  Circuit  of  Illinois, 
embracing  Sangamon  county,  and  took  the  oath  of  office 
on  the  24th  of  that  month.  He  presided  at  the  regular 
terms  of  the  court  until  the  March  term,  1837,  when, 
owing  to  the  inadequacy  of  the  salary,  he  resigned.  In 
1839  he  was  again  chosen  Circuit  Judge,  but  as  the  elec- 
tion was  without  his  consent,  he  declined  to  serve.  While 
on  the  bench,  he  fully  illustrated  all  the  essential  qualities 
of  judicial  excellence,  namely:  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  law,  solidity  of  judgment,  clearness  of  apprehension, 
promptness  of  decision,  and  a  wonderful  readiness  in 
applying  legal  principles  to  complex  transactions,  and 
ever- varying  facts. 


10  MEMOIES  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

In  1842  Judge  Logan  was  elected  a  representative  in  the 
Legislature  from  the  county  of  Sangamon,  and  reelected 
in  1844  and  1846,  serving  throughout  with  great  credit 
and  ability.  In  1847  he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the 
convention  which  formed  the.  State  Constitution  of  that 
year,  and  took  a  leading  and  influential  part  in  the  delib- 
erations of  that  important  body.  His  efforts,  both  in  the 
Legislature  and  in  the  Convention,  were  specially  directed 
to  securing  economy  in  the  public  expenditures,  and 
making  adequate  provision  for  the  payment  of  the  State's 
indebtedness — in  each  of  which  he  was  measurably  suc- 
cessful. 

In  1848  he  was  the  Whig  candidate  for  Congress  in  the 
Capital  District  of  Illinois ;  but  his  party  being  under  a 
cloud,  in  consequence  of  its  opposition  to  the  Mexican 
war,  he  was  defeated  by  Major  Thos.  L.  Harris,  who  had 
then  freshly  returned  with  military  laurels  won  on  the 
fields  of  Mexico. 

Judge  Logan  now  withdrew  from  all  active  participa- 
tion in  politics,  and  for  a  number  of  years  succeeding, 
applied  himself  sedulously  to  his  profession,  being  at  this 
period  in  the  midst  of  an  active,  diversified  and  lucrative 
business,  both  in  the  State  and  Federal  courts.  Upon 
retiring  from  the  bench  in  1837,  his  first  law  partner  was 
Col.  E.  D.  Baker.  He  was  afterward  associated  (from 
1841  to  1844)  with  Abraham  Lincoln,  and,  at  a  later 
period,  with  his  son-in-law,  Hon.  Milton  Hay. 

In  1854,  Judge  Logan  was  elected  for  the  fourth  time 
to  the  popular  branch  of  the  General  Assembly.    During 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  11 

this  session  be  served  as  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  and 
other  important  committees,  and  was  the  author  of  sev- 
eral useful  measures  of  legislation.  In  1855  he  was  run 
as  a  candidate  (though  without  his  solicitation)  for  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  Second  Grand  Division  of 
Illinois,  in  opposition  to  Judge  0.  C.  Skinner,  of  Quincy. 

In  May,  1860,  he  was  a  delegate  from  the  State  at  large 
to  the  Chicago  Kepublican  National  Convention,  and  with 
David  Davis,  Leonard  Swett,  Norman  Judd,  and  a  few 
other  of  the  special  friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  assisted  in 
those  skillful  combinations  which  eventuated  in  the  nomi- 
nation and  ultimate  election  of  the  latter  to  the  Presi- 
dency. 

Early  in  February,  1861,  Judge  Logan  was  appointed 
by  the  Governor  of  Illinois,  (under  a  joint  resolution  of 
the  Legislature)  one  of  five  commissioners  to  represent 
the  State  in  the  National  Peace  Conference,  which  met  in 
Washington  City  on  the  4th  of  that  month.  The  object 
of  this  conference,  as  is  known  to  all  well-informed 
readers,  was  to  devise  certain  amendments  to  the  Federal 
Constitution,  which  it  was  hoped,  if  adopted  by  Congress 
and  the  several  States,  would  restore  peace  to  a  deeply 
agitated  country,  preserve  the  Union,  and  avert  the 
calamities  of  the  civil  war  then  impending.  Logan's 
colleagues  in  the  conference  were  John  Wood,  John  M. 
Palmer,  Burton  C.  Cook,  and  Thomas  J.  Turner. 

Judge  Logan  took  an  active  and  distinguished  part  in 
the  deliberations  of  this  historic  assembly,  and  favored 
an  honorable  compromise  between  the  Northern   and 


12  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

Southern  sections  of  the  Union.  The  following  extract 
from  a  private  letter  by  the  Hon.  W.  S.  Groesbeck,  of 
Ohio — himself  a  prominent  member  of  the  same  body — 
to  a  gentleman  in  Springfield,  shortly  after  Logan's 
decease,  shows  the  high  estimation  in  which  the  abilities 
and  services  of  the  latter  were  held'by  his  associates  in 
the  conference : 

"  I  first  met  him  (Logan)  in  the  Peace  Conference  of 
1861.  He  was  a  leading  member  of  that  body,  and  came 
to  be  beloved  by  all  of  us.  It  could  not  be  otherwise. 
While  he  was  true  to  his  convictions,  he  was  conspicuous 
as  a  patriot  and  peace-maker.  You  may  be  aware  that 
the  speeches  made  in  that  Congress  were  not  reported  or 
preserved.  I  think  this  is  to  be  regretted,  for  some  of 
them  were  very  eloquent,  and  would  have  been  historic. 
Judge  Logan,  as  the  friend  of  President  Lincoln,  was 
often  heard,  and  always  with  profound  interest.  I  recall 
one  of  his  speeches,  made  toward  the  close  of  our  con- 
ference, and  when  we  were  feeling  very  much  discouraged. 
I  will  not  undertake  to  give  you  any  part  of  the  speech. 
It  was  a  grand,  patriotic  appeal.  It  touched  every  heart ; 
it  moistened  nearly  every  eye.  I  have  not  met  Judge 
Logan  since  that  day,  but  if  I  were  to  live  an  hundred 
years  I  would  not  forget  him." 

Judge  Logan's  service  in  the  Peace  Conference  was  the 
last  of  his  public  and  official  employments.  He  now 
retired  from  political  life,  and  gradually  withdrew  from 
the  pursuit  of  his  profession,  but  continued  to  closely 
observe  passing  events,  and  took  a  lively  interest  in  what- 
ever concerned  the  welfare  of  his  State  and  the  country 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  13 

at  large.  His  last  public  appearance  was  in  1872,  when 
he  was  unanimously  chosen  to  preside  over  the  Kepub- 
lican  State  Convention  of  that  year.  On  taking  the  chair 
on  that  occasion,  he  made  a  short  speech,  which  was 
characterized  by  much  of  his  earlier  fire  and  fervor  of 
style. 

The  evening  of  his  days  was  passed  in  dignified  retire- 
ment, surrounded  by  his  family,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of 
the  ample  estate  which  he  had  amassed  by  his  industry, 
economy  and  foresight.  His  death  occurred  after  a  brief 
yet  painful  illness,  at  his  residence  in  Springfield,  on 
July  17th,  1880,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years,  four  months 
and  twenty-two  days. 

His  funeral  took  place  from  the  family  residence  on 
Monday,  the  19th  of  July.  It  was  simply,  yet  appropri- 
ately, conducted,  and  was  very  numerously  attended. 
Prominent  among  those  present  were  distinguished  men 
of  the  bench  and  bar  from  all  portions  of  the  State, 
among  whom  were  Senator  Davis,  Judge  Drummond,  0. 
H.  Browning,  Judge  Wm.  Thomas,  and  others,  the  San- 
gamon Bar,  who  attended  in  a  body ;  the  Governor  and 
other  State  officers ;  the  judges  and  officers  of  the  various 
courts;  the  Mayor  and  members  of  the  City  Council; 
and  the  Board  of  Managers  of  Oak  Eidge  Cemetery,  of 
which  Logan  was  for  some  years  a  member  and  president. 

The  religious  services  were  conducted  by  Elder  J.  B. 
Allen,  of  the  Christian  Church,  assisted  by  the  Eev.  F. 
H.  Wines.  The  pall-bearers  were  Hon.  David  Davis, 
Hon.  Thomas  Drummond,  Hon.  Samuel  H.  Treat,  Hon. 


14  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

0.  H.  Browning,  Hon.  William  Thomas,  Hon.  John  T. 
Stuart,  Governor  Cullom,  ex-Governor  Palmer,  Judge 
J.  M.  Scott,  and  Judge  C.  S.  Zane.  At  the  close  of  the 
services  at  the  mansion,  the  remains  of  the  venerable 
barrister  and  jurist  were  conveyed  to  Oak  Eidge  Ceme- 
tery, and  deposited  in  the  family  lot  by  the  side  of  his 
wife. 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  15 


POSTHUMOUS  HONORS, 


EULOGIES   AND   RESOLUTIONS   BY   THE   MEMBERS    OF   THE 

SANGAMON   COUNTY   BAR   ON   THE   DEATH  OF 

HON.  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 


P|N  July  19th,  1880,  at  10  o'clock  a.  m.,  (the  day  of  -Judge 
\J  Logan's  obsequies)  pursuant  to  notice,  the  members 
of  the  bar  met  in  the  Circuit  Court  room,  in  the  city  of 
Springfield,  to  give  fitting  expression  to  theii'  sorrow  at 
the  loss  of  their  eminent  brother.  On  this  melancholy 
occasion  there  was  a  large  attendance  of  the  local  mem- 
bers of  the  bar,  and  a  number  of  distinguished  gentlemen 
of  the  legal  profession  from  other  parts  of  the  State. 
ex-Governor  John  M.  Palmer  called  the  assemblage  to 
order,  and  on  his  motion  the  Hon.  John  T.  Stuart  was 
chosen  to  pres-ide.  Upon  taking  the  chair,  Mr.  Stuarc 
impressively  spoke  as  follows  : 

REMARKS  OF  HON.  JOHN  T.  STUART. 

This  meeting  has  been  called  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
some  action  in  relation  to  the  death  of  our  distinguished 
friend  and  brother,  Stephen  T.  Logan.  It  is  eminently 
proper  that  we,  the  members  of  the  Sangamon  county 
bar,  should  gather  around  his  bier,  and  do  what  we  may 


16  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

to  embalm  his  memory.  Stephen  T.  Logan  was  no  com- 
mon man ;  he  was  no  ordinary  lawyer.  He  began  his 
career  as  a  lawyer  at  this  bar  in  the  year  1832.  He 
was  then  thirty-two  years  of  age,  in  the  prime  of  intel- 
lectual vigor.  He  had  practiced  his  profession  in  his 
native  State  for  ten  years  previous,  and  brought  with  him 
to  the  State  of  his  adoption  no  mean  reputation  as  a 
lawyer.  He  came  to  seek  a  new  home  in  this,  our  then 
infant.  State,  where  he  might  mend  his  financial  condi- 
tions then  overburdened  with  security  debts.  In  the  long 
life  now  just  closed — a  life  of  honorable  labor  in  his  pro- 
fession— by  his  economy  and  forecast  he  won  both  fame 
and  fortune. 

In  his  active  career  as  a  practitioner  at  this  bar,  Judge 
Logan  had  to  struggle  with  very  able  competitors.  He 
won  fame  and  fortune,  not  by  contests  with  feeble  or 
unskilled  antagonists,  but  with  foemen  worthy  of  his 
steel. 

The  Sangamon  bar,  during  that  active  period  of  his 
professional  life,  was  composed  of  members — many  of 
them  of  rare  intellectual  ability  and  legal  attainments, 
stars  in  their  profession,  a  galaxy  rarely  equalled,  not 
often  surpassed.  Among  the  dead  of  these,  were  Lincoln, 
Douglas,  Shields,  McDougal,  Baker,  Lamborn,  Strong, 
Bledsoe,  Forquer,  Pugh — all  known  to  fame,  and  some  of 
reputation  world-wide.  To  say  that  Stephen  T.  Logan 
was  the  equal  of  these  would  be  saying  much,  yet  I  hazard 
nothing  in  saying  here  that,  as  a  lawyer,  he  was  the  equal, 
if  not  the  superior,  of  them.  In  some  one  or  more  of 
these,  some  one  intellectual  power  might  be  selected  in 
which  he  may  have  had  superiors,  but  when  one  com- 
bined all  the  mental  qualities  and  attainments  necessary 
to  equip  an  able  practicing  lawyer,  in  my  opinion  he  was 
the  superior  of  any  of  them.    He  was  well  grounded  in 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  17 

the  law  as  a  science.  He  saw  the  strong  point  in  his  case, 
or  the  weak  one  of  his  opponent,  with  intuitive  vision, 
discarding  all  issues  intended  to  mislead  an  opponent. 
The  rapidity  of  his  intellectual  perceptions  were  like 
flashes  of  lightning.  In  his  arguments  to  the  court 
he  stated  his  point  logically  and  tersely,  and  to  its 
enlightenment. 

In  his  arguments  to  the  jury  he  maintained  the  same 
ierse  logic,  the  same  hugging  of  the  point  of  his  case,  but 
super-adding  a  mesmeric  force  often  overwhelming. 

Logan,  in  his  office,  was  the  just,  ripe  and  safe  coun- 
sellor, grasping  with  readiness  the  facts  of  the  cases 
submitted  to  him,  separating  the  truth  from  the  coloring 
given  it  by  the  passion  of  the  client,  and  readily  seeing 
the  point  in  the  case,  he  was  able  to  give  sound  advice, 
which  his  sense  of  justice  directed  to  the  right.  He  was 
not  a  promoter  of  litigations.  He  settled  more  contro- 
versies than  he  brought  suits.     He  was  a  peace-maker. 

Logan  was  industrious,  painstaking,  economical,  studi- 
ous, temperate,  moral.  He  never  offended  the  moral 
sense  of  community  by  outrages  against  good  morals  and 
taste,  sometimes  mistakenly  thought  to  be  the  accom- 
paniment, if  not  the  evidence,  of  genius.  He  was  a  good 
citizen,  as  well  as  an  able  lawyer. 

Stephen  T.  Logan,  with6ut  his  solicitation  or  knowl- 
edge, was  twice  elected  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  an 
office  which  he  held  but  a  short  time,  the  practice  of  his 
profession  being  more  congenial  to  his  taste,  as  well 
as  more  lucrative.  He  was  elected  by  the  county  of  San- 
gamon more  than  once  to  the  House  of  Eepresentatives 
of  the  State  Legislature,  and  once  to  the  Constitutional 
Convention,  and  he  carried  into  all  these  public  services 
—2 


18  MEMOIRS  OP  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAIS. 


great  ability,  industry  and  patriotism,  to  the  entire  satis- 
faction of  his  constituents.  He  but  once  participated  in 
any  National  service — being  a  member  of  the  Peace  Con- 
gress of  1861.  He  took  with  him  into  that  body  the  same 
noble  characteristic  that  marked  him  in  his  law  office, — 
that  of  the  peace-maker.  He  there  delivered  himself  of 
a  speech,  as  represented  to  me  by  persons  who  heard 
it,  of  wonderful  force  and  power,  fairly  electrifying  his 
audience.  But  he  failed  in  his  effort  to  make  peace 
between  the  different  sections  of  the  Union.  Party  feel- 
ings, sectional  animosities,  if  not  the  decrees  of  Provi- 
dence, were  too  strong  for  him — he  failed;  and  he, 
perhaps,  has  never  received  here  the  credit  due  to  his 
holy  effort,  but  up  yonder,  before  the  Great  White  Throne, 
where  he  has  gone,  I  hope  and  believe,  he  will  have  the 
blessing  promised  the  peace-maker. 

Judge  Logan,  nearly  twenty  years  since,  having  then 
acquired  wealth,  retired  from  practice  to  a  life  of  dignified 
leisure.  I  think  in  this  he  made  a  mistake.  A  man  of 
his  ability  best  discharges  his  obligation  to  the  commu- 
nity, and  best  consults  his  own  happiness,  by  continuing 
to  labor  in  his  profession  or  business  as  long  as  he  has 
the  ability. 

The  younger  members  of  this  bar,  who  knew  not  Logan 
as  a  practicing  lawyer,  and  have  only  seen  him  as  he 
walked  the  streets  in  his  slow,  listless  and  unostentatious 
way,  cannot  realize  him  as  possessed  of  the  ability  which 
we,  the  older  members,  describe.  In  person  he  was  of 
small  stature.  He  discarded  the  ornamentations  of  dress. 
Nature  had  not  given  in  his  person  any  indication  of 
his  talent,  except  in  his  deep-set,  penetrating  eye,  which 
when  aroused  fairly  blazed  ;  but  we,  the  older  members, 
knew  his  power  because  we  have  often  felt  it.  The  younger 
may  not  fully  sympathize  with  the  older  members  of  this 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  19 

bar  in  the  desire  to  emblazon,  record  and  perpetuate  the 
ability  and  fame  of  Stephen  T.  Logan.  But  the  fame  of 
its  great  lawyers — its  Logans,  its  Lincolns,  its  Bakers, 
its  Douglases  and  others — is  a  part  of  the  history  of  the 
Sangamon  bar,  and  of  Sangamon  county,  and  as  such  it 
belongs  to  us.  It  is  a  part  of  my  property  and  of  yours, 
and  all  should  spare  no  pains  to  keep  it  bright.  It  is  not 
only  the  present  property  of  us  all,  but  to  the  young  it  is 
a  stimulant  and  example. 

These  men  supplemented  their  native  talent  by  labor, 
temperance,  morality,  preservance,  and  a  strong  sense  of, 
and  adherence  to,  the  right,  and  their  example  teaches 
that  by  the  use  of  the  same  means  every  young  lawyer 
here  may  win  the  same  renown  which  they  have  won,  and 
sit  down  with  them  in  that  temple  of  fame  which  they 
have  built  for  the  Sangamon  bar. 

At  the  close  of  Mr.  Stuart's  remarks.  Col.  William  L. 
Gross  and  C.  C.  Brown,  Esq.,  were  selected  as  secretaries 
of  the  meeting. 

Thereupon  Governor  Cullom  moved  that  the  chair 
appoint  a  committee  of  three,  of  which  ex-Governor 
Palmer  should  be  chairman,  to  draft  and  report  resolu- 
tions expressing  the  sense  of  the  meeting  relative  to  the 
demise  of  Judge  Logan.  The  motion  prevailed,  and  the 
chair  appointed  as  that  committee,  ex-Governor  Palmer, 
Governor  Cullom,  and  Henry  S.  Greene,  Esq.,  and  they 
retired. 

On  the  return  of  the  committee,  ex-Governor  Palmer 
reported  the  following : 

RESOLUTIONS. 
Resolved,  That  the  bar  of  Springfield  has  heard  with  profound  sen- 
sibility of  the  death  of  Stephen  T.  Logan,  who  was,  during  nearly 
half  a  century,  one  of  its  most  distinguished  members,  possessed  at 
once  of  analytical  ingenuity,  ripe  scholarship,  and  resources  for  any 


20  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

emergency.  The  contemporary  of  lawyers  and  jurists  like  Lincoln, 
Breese,  Cyrus  Walker,  Archibald  Williams,  Justin  Butterfield,  Brown- 
ing, Douglas,  Baker  and  Hardin,  in  an  equal  degree  with  the  greatest 
of  his  compeers,  he  adorned  the  profession  by  his  learning  and  probity, 
and  stood  by  common  consent  at  the  head  of  the  bar  of  Illinois. 

Resolved^  That  we  regret  in  the  death  of  our  lamented  brother,  not 
only  the  loss  of  a  distinguished  lawyer,  but  also  an  illustrious  citizen 
of  the  State,  who,  by  his  energy  and  ability,  contributed  much  to  its 
material  prosperity,  and  by  his  wisdom  as  a  legislator,  and  inflexible 
integrity  as  a  judge,  was  instrumental  in  giving  to  person  and  prop- 
erty the  protection  of  wise  laws,  wisely  and  honestly  administered. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Stephen  T.  Logan  we  also  lament 
the  loss  of  a  neighbor,  who  was  always  kind,  and  a  friend  whose 
memory  will  be  lield  sacred  by  the  entire  community,  which  has  often 
been  benefited  by  his  advice  and  instructed  by  his  wisdom. 

Resolved,  That  this  bar  will  manifest  its  regret  for  the  memory  of 
the  deceased,  and  its  sympathy  with  his  bereaved  family,  by  wearing 
the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days  ;  and  that  we  will  attend 
the  funeral  of  the  deceased  in  a  body. 

Resolved,  furtJier,  That  the  Hon.  David  Davis,  a  life-long  friend 
and  professional  associate  of  the  deceased,  be  requested  to  present 
these  resolutions  to  the  United  States  Court,  now  in  session,  and  that 
the  chairman  of  this  meeting  be  requested  to  present  the  same  to  the 
Sangamon  County  Circuit  Court,  and  that  he  appoint  some  member 
of  this  bar  to  present  them  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and 
ask  that  they  be  spread  upon  the  records  of  the  several  courts. 

After  the  reading  of  the  resohitions,  Governor  Palmer 
addressed  the  meeting  in  a  few  impromptu  remarks, 
replete  with  striking  thoughts,  in  which  he  paid  a  just 
tribute  of  praise  to  the  deceased  Logan  as  a  lawyer,  a 
citizen,  and  a  man,  and  as  an  example  to  young  lawyers 
of  energy,  industry  and  conscientious  discharge  of  duty. 

Judge  B.  S.  Edwards  seconded  the  adoption  of  the 
resolutions,  and  with  emotion  said  : 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  21 

REMARKS  X)F   HON.    BENJ,    S.    EDWARDS. 

Friend  after  friend  departs.  Of  the  lawyers  practic- 
ing at  this  bar  in  1840,  when  I  commenced,  I  only  remain 
in  active  practice.  Many  are  dead,  and  others  have 
retired  or  engaged  in  different  pursuits,  Hon.  John  T. 
Stuart  was  in  Congress  from  1839  to  1843,  and  for  the 
time  had  withdrawn  from  the  courts.  Of  the  other  resi- 
dent lawyers,  Logan,  Thomas,  Baker,  Douglas,  Lincoln, 
Strong,  and  shortly  after  1840,  McDou-al,  Bledsoe  and 
Lambourn,  were  the  most  prominent.  These  are  now  all 
dead.  All  were  great,  though  each  with  peculiar  charac- 
teristics, both  in  public  and  private  relations. 

I  entered  the  law  office  of  Stephen  T.  Logan  in  Jan- 
uary, 1840,  to  complete  my  professional  studies,  and  from 
that  time  to  his  retirement,  was  on  terms  of  intimate 
friendship  with  him.  Associated  with  and  opposed  to 
him  at  different  times  in  cases  of  great  magnitude,  civil 
and  criminal,  with  full  opportunity  of  observation,  and 
with  frequent  necessity  for  preparation  to  meet  his  con- 
summate tact  and  eminent  legal  ability  with  any  degree 
of  success  or  credit,  and  after  acquaintance  for  forty 
years  with  most  of  the  great  lawyers  of  this  State, 
and  many  from  other  States,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  he 
was  the  -ablest  lawyer  I  have  ever  known.  Thoroughly 
versed  in  the  principles  of  the  law,  familiar  with  their 
application  in  the  books,  and  in  the  cases  in  which  he 
had  been  engaged  or  the  trials  which  he  had  witnessed, 
with  an  intellect  capable  of  comprehending  a  case  in  all 
its  fullness  of  circumstances,  its  probabilities  or  possi- 
bilities, while  still  retaining  control  of  the  smallest 
details;  a  fine  judge  of  men  and  the  motives  influencing 
them,  instinctively  discerning  where  was  the  right  and 
justice  of  a  controversy,  fearless  and  independent  in  the 


22  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

presentation  of  his  arguments,  and  gifted  with  the  power 
to  express  his  views  with  logic  seldom  equalled,  his  posi- 
tion among  his  brethren  of  the  bar  was  always  preemi- 
nent. While  it  is  with  his  character  as  a  lawyer  that  on 
this  occasion  he  is  principally  to  be  spoken  of,  it  would 
be  unjust  to  his  memory  to  omit  one  suggestion  as  to  his 
use  of  the  influence  which  his  legal  attainments  and  his 
integrity  as  a  man  gave  him.  So  great  was  his  influence 
here,  that  "Logan's  opinion"  would  settle  a  controversy 
when  other  attempts  had  failed.  Eespected  and  trusted 
by  all,  his  influence  and  advice  has  in  numerous  instances 
quietly  prevented  the  letting  out  of  strife,  or  assuaged 
the  fierce  passions  that  would  have  induced  or  protracted 
litigation;  has  preserved  harmony  among  members  of 
families,  who  might  otherwise  have  been  perpetually 
estranged  by  the  bitterness  of  a  lawsuit.  He  never 
encouraged  litigation,  but  as  a  friend  and  neighbor  strove 
for  the  peaceful  adjustment  of  all  controversies.  Those 
who  knew  him  in  his  prime  here  at  home  will  always 
remember  him  not  only  as  a  sound  counselor,  a  fearless 
and  able  advocate,  but  as  an  honest  lawyer,  exerting 
himself  to  preserve  peace  and  harmony  amoug  friends 
and  neighbors. 

Our  deceased  friend  attained  his  professional  eminence 
in  this  State  while  he  was  poor.  His  perseverance,  sus- 
tained by  ability  and  honesty,  secured  to  him  not  only 
his  high  position,  but  an  abundance  of  this  world's 
wealth.  He  has  died  without  a  blot  upon  his  reputation, 
moarned  not  only  by  his  family  and  immediate  friends, 
but  by  his  professional  brethren  wherever  he  was  known, 
and  by  his  neighbors  who  knew  him  when  he  was  young, 
and  when  age  and  infirmity  had  caused  his  retirement, 
and  who  have  always  honored  him  with  well-deserved 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  23 

respect.  He  was  a.  pure  man,  faithful  and  loving  in  all 
his  domestic  relations.  "The  glory  of  his  children  will 
be  their  father."    He  was  a  just  man. 

"  This  is  true  glory  and  reno^\ii  when  God, 
Looking  on  the  earth,  with  approbation  marks 
The  just  man  and  divulges  him  through  heaven 
To  all  his  angels,  who,  with  true  applause, 
Kecount  his  praises." 

General  John  A.  McClernand  followed  Judge  Edwards 
in  an  extempore  address  of  some  length,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  compared  Judge  Logan  to  John  C.  Calhoun, 
and  expressed  the  opinion  that  if  the  former  had  attained 
to  high  political  position  he  would  have  made  as  great  a 
reputation  as  the  latter,  for  the  reason  that  he  possessed 
an  equally  analytical  mind,  and  had  most  of  the  other 
characteristics  which  rendered  the  South  Carolina  states- 
man so  famous.  He  further  spoke  in  laudatory  terms  of 
Logan's  speeches  and  conduct  in  the  National  Peace 
Conference. 

The  last  speaker  to  address  the  meeting  was  Governor 
Shelby  M.  Cullom.    He  eloquently  said : 

REMAEKS  OF  GOVERNOR  CULLOM. 

Mr.  Chairman  : — I  cannot  permit  this  meeting  to  ad- 
journ before  offering  my  tribute,  poor  as  it  may  be,  to  the 
memory  of  that  great  man  who  has  just  passed  away, 
and  who  was  distinguished  by  his  talents,  his  worth  and 
his  services  to  this  community  and  State. 

Judge  Logan  is  dead.  Perhaps  no  one  here  regrets  his 
death  more  than  I  do.  Though  more  than  thirty  years 
older  than  myself,  he  was  my  friend.  Many  years  ago, 
when  I  was  but  a  small  boy,  I  was  taught  to  believe,  what 
in  after  years  from  actual  acquaintance  I  became  con- 
vinced was  true,  that  Stephen  T.  Logan  was  the  ablest 


24  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

lawyer  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  It  is  not  now  the  time  nor 
the  place  to  attempt  an  analysis  of  his  character,  or  a 
minute  portrayal  of  his  great  powers  as  a  man,  especially 
as  exhibited  in  his  chosen  profession ;  suffice  to  say,  that 
I  think  it  has  long  been  admitted  that  when  he  was  in  the 
vigor  of  his  manhood  he  was  the  superior  of  any  man  in 
the  west,  in  the  trial  of  a  case.  No  man  ever  secured  an 
advantage  over  him  in  the  examination  of  witnesses 
before  a  court,  or  in  seeing  and  seizing  the  strong  points 
in  a  case. 

He  had  great  power  in  presenting  the  points  of  a  case, 
and  never  wasted  time  in  preparing  or  supporting  views 
not  founded  on  sound  reason  and  practice. 

Judge  Logan  was  a  man  whose  power  of  intellect  and 
reason  enabled  him  to  live  upon  his  own  thoughts.  He 
did  not  copy  from  the  world  either  in  manner  or  expres- 
sion. He  was  always  himself,  and  absolutely  without 
pretense  or  hypocrisy. 

There  is  an  ancient  maxim  which  forbids  saying  any- 
thing but  good  about  the  dead.  I  can  obey  it  in  speaking 
of  Judge  Logan  without  doing  violence  in  the  least  to  my 
sense  of  duty.  There  is  nothing  can  be  said  of  him 
that  is  not  good.  After  a  life  of  more  than  eighty  years 
he  passes  away  full  of  honors,  with  a  name  untarnished 
by  any  stain  of  wrong  doing.  No  man  in  all  the  land  can 
say  that  he  ever  did  a  dishonest  act.  What  a  blessing  it 
is  to  a  community,  to  a  State,  to  a  Nation,  when  the  lives 
of  its  great  men  may  be  held  up  before  the  people  for  the 
closest  scrutiny,  to  know  that  criticism  will  develop 
nothing  but  honorable  dealings  and  doings  all  through  a 
long  and  eventful  life. 

Mr.  Chairman,  while  it  is  not  strange  that  this  visita- 
tion of  God's  Providence  has  come  and  taken  our  friend 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  25 

from  among  the  living  upon  earth,  yet  we  cannot  hut 
pause,  as  we  reaHze  that  such  visitations  have  come  to  us 
in  IlHnois  in  almost  a  remarkable  degree.  Few  men  who 
knew  and  worked  with  Judge  Logan  in  the  vigor  of  his 
manhood  remain  among  us. 

Lincoln  and  Douglas,  Breese,  Baker,  Walker  and  Wil- 
liams, McDougal  and  Butterfield,  Hardin,  Lockwood  and 
Purple,  and  many  other  great  men  who  made  their 
impress  upon  affairs  in  their  time,  have  all  passed  away. 
Nearly  all  the  grand  men  who  were  prominently  con- 
nected with  the  early  history  of  our  State,  are  no  more. 
They  gave  direction  and  character  to  the  institutions  of 
our  prosperous  State,  and  in  a  degree  to  our  Eepublic, 
and  their  names  and  deeds  are  recorded  on  the  brightest 
pages  of  Illinois  and  National  history. 

Judge  Logan  was  not  an  indifferent  man  to  public 
affairs.  While  the  great  part  of  his  life's  work  was  in  the 
practice  of  law,  which  Avas  more  pleasing  to  him  than 
other  pursuits,  yet,  when  occasion  required,  he  did  not 
shrink  from  public  duty,  and  as  Judge  on  the  bench,  as 
a  legislator,  or  in  the  convention  to  form  the  organic  law 
of  the  State,  he  was  second  to  no  man  ever  associated 
with  him. 

Judge  Logan  lived  in  the  grandest  period  of  the  world's 
history.  Beginning  his  existence  with  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  what  marvellous  changes  and 
progress  he  was  permitted  to  witness.  There  have  been 
periods  in  the  world's  history  in  which  little  was  done  to 
make  them  worthy  of  notice.  Not  so  with  the  present 
century.  It  has  been  a  period  of  great  events,  of  great 
movements  among  the  nations,  of  great  inventions  and 
great  progress  in  improving  the  civilization  of  the  world. 
No  eighty  years  have  produced  greater  things  than  the 
eighty  in  which  our  deceased  friend  lived.    He  witnessed 


26  MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

the  growth  of  our  own  beloved  land.  He  lived  to  see 
slavery  abolished  in  the  country.  He  lived  to  see  the 
Nation  grow  from  six  or  seven  to  more  than  forty-eight 
milHons  of  free  people.  He  lived  to  see  our  Kepublic 
tried  as  by  fire  and  come  out  of  a  terrible  civil  war 
stronger  than  ever  before.  He  lived  to  see  our  own  com- 
monwealth increase  in  population  from  155,000  to  more 
than  3,000,000  of  people,  and  its  territory  transformed, 
as  it  were,  from  a  wilderness  to  a  garden,  and  made  to 
blossom  as  the  rose.  He  lived  to  see  the  wonderful 
triumph  of  science  and  art  as  they  have  gone  forward 
hand  in  hand  lightening  the  burdens  and  lifting  humanity 
upon  a  higher  plane  of  existence.  But,  Mr.  Chairman, 
I  will  not  continue  my  remarks.  Judge  Logan  is  done 
with  earth.  We  shall  soon  bear  his  mortal  remains  to 
the  tomb.  Though  dead,  he  wih  not  be  forgotten.  His 
memory  will  be  fresh  in  the  hearts  of  many  people  in 
this  city  and  State,  long  after  most  of  us  shall  have  passed 
away.     I  second  the  resolutions  offered  by  the  gentleman. 

The  resolutions  were  then  unanimously  adopted. 

On  motion,  ex-Governor  Palmer,  Hon.  Lawrence 
Weldon  and  Hon.  Benj.  S.  Edwards,  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  prepare  a  memorial  of  Judge  Logan,  to  be 
presented  to  the  State  Bar  Association ;  after  which  the 
assemblage  adjourned  to  meet  in  the  United  States  Court 
room  at  5  :30p.  m. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE    UNITED   STATES  COURT  ON  THE  OCCASION 
OF  THE  DE]\nSE  OF  JUDGE  S.  T.  LOGAN. 

At  half-past  five  o'clock  of  the  day  of  the  meeting  of 
the  bar,  the  United  States  Court  for  the  Southern  District 
of  Illinois,  convened  at  the  court  room,  in  Springfield. 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  27 

Judge  Thomas  Drummond,  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and 
Judge  Samuel  H.  Treat,  of  the  District  Court,  were 
on  the  bench.  There  was  a  full  attendance  of  the 
members  of  thp  bar,  and  a  number  of  others.  In  com- 
pliance with  the  request  expressed  in  the  resolutions 
adopted  by  the  bar  meeting,  Senator  David  Davis  now 
presented  those  resolutions  to  the  court,  and  asked  that 
they  be  spread  upon  the  records.  He  prefaced  their 
introduction  with  the  following  address  : 

ADDRESS  BY  HON.  DAVID  DAVIS. 

May  it  Please  Your  Honors  : — The  custom  of  our  pro- 
fession to  meet  together  in  order  to  pay  tribute  to  the 
virtues  of  their  deceased  brethren,  cannot  be  more  appro- 
priately observed  than  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  the 
lawyer  and  friend  whom  we  have  just  buried  in  the 
beautiful  cemetery  adjoining  this  city.  The  bar  of  San- 
gamon county,  where  Stephen  T.  Logan  lived  for  nearly 
fifty  years,  met  to-day  to  bear  witness  to  his  life  and 
character,  and  to  testify  their  sense  of  personal  bereave- 
ment in  his  loss.  They  have  charged  me  with  the  duty 
of  presenting  to  this  court,  where  he  practiced  so  long 
and  successfully,  their  proceedings,  and  to  ask  that  they 
be  placed  on  the  permanent  minutes. 

Memories  are  busy  with  me  to-day,  for  I  am  among  the 
few  lawyers  now  living  who  knew  Judge  Logan  nearly 
forty-five  years  ago.  The  first  time  I  saw  him  was  in 
Springfield,  in  the  autumn  of  1835,  when  he  was  holding 
a  term  of  the  Sangamon  Circuit  Court.  I  had  just  come 
to  the  State,  and  was,  naturally,  desirous  of  observing  the 
proceedings  in  the  courts.  Having  pursued  my  legal 
studies  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  I  was  impressed 
with  the  idea,  that  justice  was  administered  in  those 
States  by  magistrates  who  were  superior  to  any  I  should 


28  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

meet  in  Illinois,  and  was,  therefore,  not  prepared,  at  the 
outset,  to  have  this  opinion  changed.  I  was  a  diligent 
observer  of  the  manner  in  which  the  business  of  the  court 
was  conducted,  and  recollect  very  distinctly  that  Cyrus 
Walker  and  Henry  E.  Dummer — both  eminent  in  their 
profession — were  engaged  in  an  important  controversy, 
and  discussed  with  signal  ability  some  intricate  points  of 
evidence.  These  were  disposed  of  by  Judge  Logan  with  a 
clearness  of  statement  and  power  of  reasoning,  that  not 
only  carried  conviction  to  my  mind,  but  satisfied  me  of 
the  largeness  of  his  capacity,  and  of  his  ability  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  any  judicial  tribunal  in  the  country. 
The  admiration  which  I  conceived  for  him  then,  instead 
of  being  diminished  by  the  lapse  of  time,  as  often  hap- 
pens, was  increased  as  I  knew  him  better,  and  observed 
the  development  of  his  marvelous  powers. 

He  did  not  remain  long  on  the  bench,  but  soon  left  it 
for  the  conflicts  of  the  bar,  which  was  a  more  congenial 
occupation  to  him.  At  this  time,  as  now,  some  of  the 
leading  lights  of  the  profession  were  located  in  this  city. 
Among  the  number,  besides  Logan,  were  Lincoln,  of  mar- 
tyred fame  ;  Douglas,  who  died  too  soon  for  his  country ; 
the  gifted  Baker,  who  fell  at  Ball's  Bluff ;  Treat,  who  has 
for  so  many  years  adorned  the  State  and  Federal  bench ; 
Hewett,  eloquent  and  persuasive,  and  my  valued  friend, 
John  T.  Stuart,  who,  as  a  lawyer  and  statesman,  has 
rendered  distinguished  ser^dces  to  the  State  and  Nation. 

Unlike  some  of  these  illustrious  men,  Logan  preferred 
the  contests  of  his  profession  to  the  excitement  of  politics, 
and,  therefore,  his  reputation  is  local  instead  of  national. 
In  this  State  public  opinion,  during  his  long  career  at  the 
bar,  placed  him  at  the  head  of  it — what  nobler  ambition 
can  a  lawyer  achieve. 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  29 

Although  he  rendered  the  State  valuable  service  on  the 
bench,  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1847,  and  in 
the  Legislature,  and  endeavored  to  serve  the  Nation  in 
the  Peace  Conference  of  1861,  yet  his  chief  claim  to  dis- 
tinction rests  on  the  fame  which  he  obtained  at  the  bar. 
There  he  was  at  home,  and,  to  say  the  least,  confessedly 
the  equal  of  any  of  his  associates. 

The  bar  of  Illinois,  in  the  early  days,  no  less  than  now, 
was  distinguished  for  its  ability  and  learning,  and  some 
of  its  members  acquired  a  national  reputation.  Besides 
those  I  have  mentioned,  I  can  recall  the  names  of  Brown- 
ing, Bushnell  and  Williams,  Hardin  and  MeDougal, 
Walker  and  Dickey,  Drummond  and  Caton,  Jesse  B,  and 
William  Thomas,  Butterfield  and  Collins,  Breese  and 
Lawrence,  Trumbull  and  Palmer,  Binder  and  Ficklin, 
McClernand  and  Webb,  Gatewood  and  Eddy,  Thornton 
and  John  L.  Brown,  Purple,  Manning  and  Hope. 

It  is  no  disparagement  to  any  of  these  eminent  men — 
some  of  whom  have  passed  beyond  the  reach  of  praise  or 
censure — to  say  that  in  legal  power  or  capacity,  not  one 
of  them  was  superior  to  Logan.  Some  of  them  had  par- 
ticular powers  which  Logan  did  not  possess,  but  in  the 
general  combination  of  essential  qualities  which  go  to 
make  up  the  great  lawyer,  not  one  of  them  excelled  him. 
Indeed,  in  all  the  elements  that  constitute  a  great  nisi 
prius  lawyer,  I  have  never  known  his  equal.  I  loved  to 
hear  him  try  an  important  jury  cause,  and  have  quite 
often  been  surprised  by  the  remarkable  powers  displayed 
by  him,  especially  when  he  was  hard  pressed  for  victory. 
I  will  mention  one  instance  :  In  the  winter  of  1844-45, 
one  Chapman  was  indicted  for  perjury  under  the  Bankrupt 
law  of  1841.  The  case  excited  a  great  deal  of  interest,  for 
the  reason  that  the  party  charged  with  the  crime  had 


30  me:\joirs  of  Stephen  t.  logax, 

previously  borne  a  good  character,  and  because  many 
persons  believed  a  beneficient  law  had  been  repealed  on 
account  of  the  perjuries  and  frauds  committed  under  it. 

Justin  Butterfield  was  the  prosecutor,  and  Logan  and 
Lincoln  defended.  Your  honors,  and  the  other  lawyers 
who  hear  me,  will  remember  the  intellectual  power  of 
Butterfield,  and  he  exerted  all  of  it  to  procure  a  convic- 
tion. As  usual,  when  Logan  was  engaged  in  a  case,  no 
matter  who  was  associated  with  him,  the  chief  manage- 
ment of  it  was  conceded  to  him.  And  he  never  appeared 
to  better  advantage  than  in  this  defense.  The  trial  lasted 
several  days,  and  the  lawyers  from  abroad,  as  well  as 
those  living  here,  were  attracted  to  the  court  room. 

The  Legislature  was  in  session,  and  though  a  member 
of  it,  I  was  so  fascinated  by  the  intellectual  struggle  that 
I  heard  the  trial  through,  to  the  neglect  of  my  official 
duties.  Chapman  was  convicted,  but  I  thought  at  the 
time  the  result  would  have  been  different  had  not  the 
Judge  charged  so  strongly  against  the  prisoner. 

I  shall  not  attempt  on  this  occasion,  may  it  please  your 
honors,  an  analysis  of  the  mental  characteristics  of 
Judge  Logan.  It  would  require,  to  do  it  properly,  a  little 
more  thought  than  I  have  been  able  to  give  the  subject 
since  the  request  of  the  bar  was  communicated  to  me. 
Besides,  your  honors,  before  whom  he  has  achieved  some 
of  his  most  important  victories,  are  betteo.-  able  to  analyze 
bis  character. 

Judge  Logan  was  a  devoted  husband,  tender  father, 
faithful  friend,  good  citizen,  and  sincere  Christian.  In 
his  journey  through  life  he  encountered  sorrows  and 
griefs — and  who  is  exempt  from  them?  But  he  bore 
them  with  Christian  fortitude  and  resignation.  It  is  a 
sincere  gratification  that  I  retained  his  confidence  and 
friendship  while  he  lived,  and  on  the  announcement  of 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  31 

his  death  I  felt  that  a  great  shadow  had  fallen  across  my 
pathway  in  life.  At  a  ripe  old  age,  surrounded  by  his 
family  and  friends,  with  his  mind  unclouded,  and  the 
consciousness  of  a  well-spent  life,  he  crossed  the  great 
river,  and,  as  I  firmly  believe,  is  now  reunited  in  a 
heavenly  sphere  to  the  loved  ones  who  have  gone  before 
him. 

May  we  all  live  so  that  when  we  come  to  die  we  may  be 
as  well  piepared  ae  he  was  for  the  great  change  that 
awaits  us. 

Judge  Drummond,  in  ordering  the  resolutions  to  be 
entered  upon  the  record  of  the  court,  made  the  subjoined 
appropriate  response : 

RESPONSE  OF  JUDGE  THOMAS  DRUMMOND. 

When  a  man  so  preeminent  at  the  bar  and  on  the  bench 
as  Judge  Logan  passes  away,  it  is  fit  there  should  be  pre- 
served on  the  enduring  records  of  the  court  in  which  he 
practiced  so  many  years,  a  memorial  of  the  appreciation 
in  which  he  was  held  as  a  man,  a  citizen  and  a  lawyer, 
by  those  who  knew  him  best,  and  are  members  of  a  com- 
mon profession.  There  need  be  no  exaggeration  of  phrase 
in  speaking  of  his  superiority  as  a  judge  and  lawyer. 
His  endowments  for  these  professions  were  unusual, 
and  necessarily  led  to  exalted  rank  in  both.  We  each 
must  speak  of  him  as  we  knew  him. 

When  I  first  met  him,  forty-five  years  ago,  he  was  a 
judge  of  the  circuit  court  of  this  State.  He  had 
exchanged  with  Judge  Ford,  and  went  into  the  latter's 
circuit,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  in  the  summer 
and  fall  of  1835.  He  was  the  first  judge  before  whom  I 
appeared,  and  his  was  the  first  court  in  which  I  tried  a 
case  in  the  State  of  Illinois.     I  was  engaged  in  several 


32  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

causes  during  the  term,  and  was  present,  and  an  atten- 
tive observer  of  the  manner  in  which  he  administered  the 
law  during  the  whole  sitting  of  the  court. 

From  the  time  I  was  appointed  a  Judge  of  the  Federal 
Court,  in  1850,  until  the  State  was  divided  into  two  dis- 
tricts, in  1855,  Judge  Logan  having  previously  left  the 
bench,  was  a  leading  practitioner  in  the  court.  This, 
with  an  occasional  connection  with  him  in  some  cases  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and  the  hearing  of  a  few 
arguments  made  by  him  in  that  court,  constitute  my  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  him  as  a  judge  and  a  lawyer. 

The  qualities,  in  my  opinion,  the  'most  conspicuous  in 
him,  were  great  clearness  of  statement,  a  preternatural 
quickness  of  apprehension,  extraordinary  fertihty  of 
resources,  and  a  glowing,  ardent  nature,  which  almost 
compelled  the  tribunal  he  addressed  to  share  in  his  own 
conviction.  To  these  were  added  in  exceptional  fullness, 
the  power  of  nice  discrimination  and  cogent  analysis,  a 
true  sense  of  the  justice  of  the  cause,  and  the  capacity 
to  reject  all  extraneous  matter,  and  confine  himself  to  the 
essential  points  in  controversy.  He  was.  besides,  a  broad, 
comprehensive  reasoner,  never  diffuse. 

These  qualities  fitted  him  peculiarly  for  the  trial  of  nisi 
prius  cases,  in  which  he  was  considered  unrivalled.  I 
do  not  think  that  in  general  he  made  great  preparation 
for  his  cases,  or  studied  them  very  elaborately.  He  often 
trusted  with  confidence  to  his  resources  at  the  time  of 
trial,  and  these  rarely  failed  him.  Above  all,  though 
faithful  in  the  utmost  to  the  cause  of  his  chent,  he  was 
an  honest  lawyer,  and  true  to  the  court,  to  which  he  left, 
after  urging  every  argument  which  a  fertile  imagination 
and  full  knowledge  could  suggest,  the  decision  of  the 
cause,  relying  upon  its  real  merits  for  success. 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  33 

Great,  as  he  unquestionably  was,  as  a  mere  lawyer,  I 
have  often  regretted  that  he  did  not  remain  longer  on  the 
bench,  and  in  the  trial  of  nisi  prius  cases.  From  what 
I  have  heard,  as  well  as  from  my  own  observation,  it  has 
always  seemed  to  me  that  for  such  an  office  his  qualifi- 
cations were  of  the  highest  kind,  amounting  to  genius  in 
that  department  of  the  law.  The  impression  he  made 
upon  me,  as  a  young  lawyer  having  his  fu*st  experience 
in  the  State  in  his  profession,  has  never  been  effaced. 

Judge  Logan  was  not  a  distinguished  politician.  It  is 
true  he  served  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State  with  emi- 
nent distinction ;  but  he  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have 
served  the  National  Government.  Perhaps  he  was  by 
nature  and  temperament  unfitted  to  become  a  buccessful 
politician.  His  fame  must,  therefore,  rest  on  his  reputa- 
tion as  a  jurist  and  a  lawyer. 

When  we  see  the  death  announced  even  of  the  most 
eminent  ^in  our  profession,  and  a  few  lines  only  in  the 
newspapers  of  the  day  devoted  to  their  memory,  we  are 
apt  to  think  that  their  fame  and  name  will  soon  pass 
away.  It  is  true  that  the  lawyer  has  not  the  brilliant 
reputation  of  the  successful  military  man,  nor  the  fame 
of  the  distinguished  statesman,  but  there  is  one  class  of 
the  community,  his  own  profession,  with  whom  the  repu- 
tation of  a  great  lawyer  never  dies.  His  name,  and  his 
ability  as  a  lawyer  are  registered  in  those  volumes  which 
contain  the  wisdom  of  the  law.  We  are  too  apt  to  forget 
that  the  learning  and  ability  which  we  find  in  the  opmions 
of  the  court  are  often  no  more  than  the  reflection  of  the 
arguments  of  the  counsel  who  are  engaged  in  the  cause. 
And  so,  independent  of  the  importance  of  the  profession 
to  which  he  belonged,  and  the  interests  of  which  it  has 
the  principal  charge  in  protecting  the  life,  liberty  and 
—3 


34  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

property  of  the  citizen,  we  may  yet  hope  that  the  fame 
of  the  great  lawyer  may  be  perpetuated  as  well  as  that 
of  the  successful  general  or  statesman. 

There  is  one  remark  I  feel  impelled  to  make  about  our 
friend  who  has  passed  away,  and  it  is  one  the  truth  of 
which  perhaps  may  not  be  admitted  by  many  of  those 
less  familiar  with  his  name  and  history.  Judge  Logan 
was  not  a  man  who  "wore  his  heart  upon  his  sleeve,"  but 
he  was  really,  to  those  who  knew  him  intimately,  a  man 
of  warm  affections.  I  must  confess,  although  I  have 
known  him  for  so  many  years,  still  the  principal  cause 
which  so  early  attached  me  to  him  was  the  conviction  of 
this  fact. 

His  death  cannot  be  said  to  be  premature  at  any  age 
who  has  finished  his  work.  Judge  Logan's  birth  takes  us 
back  to  the  last  century,  when  Napoleon  was  First  Con- 
sul in  France,  and  John  Adams  was  President  of  the 
United  States.  He  has  lived  more  than  four  score  years. 
We  have  to-day  peacefully  laid  him  away  in  his  mother 
earth,  full  of  years  and  honors,  amid  the  waving  grass, 
the  green  trees,  and  the  fragrant  flowers ;  and,  resting 
there,  he  has  left  a  name  and  fame  which  are  in  them- 
selves a  rich  legacy  to  his  family,  to  his  profession,  and 
to  his  State. 


ACTION  OF  THE  COMMON   COUNCIL  OF  THE  CITY  OF  SPRINGFIELD 
RESPECTING  THE  DEATH  OF  HON.   STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

The  City  Council  of  Springfield  met  in  special  session 
on  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  July,  with  Mayor  H.  C. 
Irwin  in  the  chair,  to  take  some  action  in  regard  to  the 
decease  of  the  venerable  Judge  Logan.  On  motion,  a 
committee  was  appointed,  composed  of  Aldermen  House, 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  35 

Eosette,  and  Wallace,  (to  which  was  added  Mr.  Harry  C. 
Watson,  the  city  clerk,)  to  prepare  suitable  resolutions  to 
be  presented  to  the  Council  at  an  adjourned  meeting  to 
be  held  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day.  After  voting  to 
attend  in  a  body  the  funeral  of  the  deceased,  the  Council 
adjourned. 

At  the  evening  session,  the  committee  reported  the 
annexed 

RESOLUTIONS  : 

Whereas,  It  has  pleased  our  Heavenly  Father,  in  His  Divine 
wisdom,  to  call  from  the  fields  of  active  life,  to  the  rest  above,  our 
old  and  well-beloved  fellow-citizen.  Judge  S.  T.  Loga^;  therefore 
be  it  by  the  City  Council 

Resolved,  That  we  see  in  his  decease  that  death  loves  a  shining 
mark,  and  that  our  city  has  lost  an  upright  and  honored  citizen,  who, 
in  all  the  varied  positions  of  his  busy,  eventful  life,  has  always  been 
above  suspicion  and  above  reproach. 

Resolved,  That  society  has  lost  one  of  its  most  honored,  purest 
members,  his  family  a  kind  and  revered  head,  the  bar  one  of  its 
brightest  lights,  and  we  a  citizen  whose  sudden  demise  leaves  a  void 
hard  indeed  to  fill,  and  whose  ' '  footprints  on  the  sands  of  time " 
teach  us  that  by  industry,  honesty  and  perseverance,  we  too  ' '  may 
make  our  lives  sublime." 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  spread  upon  the  records,  and  a 
copy  transmitted  to  the  city  papers  for  publication. 

After  the  resolutions  were  read,  Mr.  Wallace,  in  second- 
ing the  motion  for  their  adoption,  delivered  the  following 
memorial  address : 

REMARKS  OF  JOSEPH  WALLACE,  ESQ. 

Mr.  Mayor  :— I  rise  to  second  the  motion  for  the  adop- 
tion of  the  resolutions  reported  by  the  committee,  and  in 
so  doing  deem  it  not  inappropriate  to  submit  a  few 
remarks  suggested  by  the  subject  and  the  occasion. 


36  MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

Sir,  an  old  and  eminent  citizen,  a  great  lawyer,  one 
whose  name  fills  a  large  space  in  the  earlier  judicial  and 
legislative  annals  of  our  State,  has  gone  from  the  Sanga- 
mon comity  bar  to  the  bar  of  God.  This  regretful  event 
was  not  wholly  unexpected  by  his  family  and  most  inti- 
mate friends,  and  yet  it  is  difficult  to  realize  that  he  is 
indeed  no  more.  In  the  language  of  the  lamented  Col. 
Baker,  as  applied  to  another,  "  it  is  not  fit  that  such  a 
man  should  pass  unheralded  to  the  tomb ;  it  is  not  fit 
that  such  a  life  should  steal  unnoticed  to  its  close ;  it  is 
not  fit  that  such  a  death  should  call  forth  no  public 
lamentation."  Nor  is  it  so.  The  public  press  of  our  own 
and  other  cities  have  already  published  eloquent  and 
appreciative  notices  of  the  distinguished  dead  ;  the  repre- 
sentatives of  our  bar  have  met  in  solemn  conclave  and 
placed  upon  record  their  high  estimate  of  his  professional 
and  private  worth ;  and  now  the  members  of  this  Council, 
representing  the  Capital  City  of  Illinois,  wherein  he  made 
his  home  for  nearly  fifty  years,  and  with  whose  history 
and  growth  he  was  prominently  identified,  would  add 
their  brief  tribute  to  his  memory. 

I  shall  not  trespass  on  your  time  by  entering  here  upon 
any  rehearsal  of  the  events  of  Stephen  T.  Logan's  long 
and  useful  life,  which  opened  February  24,  1800,  and 
closed  July  17,  1880,  but  I  may  be  permitted  to  offer  a 
hasty  review  of  his  personal  and  professional  character, 
and  to  cast  a  flower  on  his  bier,  even  though  it  has  to-day 
been  borne  through  the  portals  of  the  tomb. 

Whenever  called  upon  to  serve  his  fellow-citizens  in 
any  official  capacity,  whether  as  Circuit  Attorney  in  his 
native  Commonwealth  of  Kentucky,  as  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Town  Trustees  of  Springfield  before  it  became  a 
city,  as  a  Eepresentative  repeatedly  in  the  Legislature, 


MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  37 

as  a  Judge  on  the  bench,  as  a  member  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  1847,  or  as  a  delegate  to  the  Peace 
Conference  of  1861,  Logan  responded  to  that  call  in  a 
manner  well  calculated  to  reflect  honor  upon  himself  and 
conserve  the  public  weal.  But  at  no  time  in  his  history 
was  he  a  professed  politician,  or  office  seeker.  He  never 
wrote  out  his  speeches  for  publication,  and  interspersed 
them  at  suitable  intervals  with  the  words  "  cheers  "  and 
"applause."  He  never  acquired  the  modern  art  of 
manipulating  "  primaries  "  and  "  caucuses."  He  had  "  no 
hired  retainers ;  no  paid  letter  writer ;  no  array  of  college 
companions  to  quote,  commend  and  herald  his  fame  to 
the  world."  He  had  little  taste  and  less  aptitude  for  the 
"  out-door  management,  the  electioneering  legerdemain, 
and  the  wearisome  correspondence "  with  local  great 
men — all  of  which,  at  this  day,  are  deemed  requisites  to 
political  preferment  and  success.  Nevertheless,  his  name 
and  his  deeds  are  inscribed  in  legible  characters  upon  the 
official  records  of  two  States,  and  the  inscriptions  will  not 
altogether  fade. 

The  controlling  attachment  of  Logan,  however,  was 
centered  in  the  law ;  his  mind  was  preeminently  a  legal 
one ;  and  his  political  ambition  was  rendered  subordinate 
to  his  love  for  this  science.  He  looked  upon  the  law  as 
the  science  of  justice,  and  he  followed  it  with  the  zeal  of 
a  true  disciple.  His  active  forensic  career  extended  over  a 
period  of  about  half  a  century,  the  larger  portion  of  which 
was  spent  in  Illinois,  and  in  this  city.  But  those  who 
saw  him  only  as  "  an  old  man,  broken  by  the  storms  of 
State,"  can  form  no  just  idea  of  his  appearance  when,  in 
the  plenitude  of  his  physical  and  intellectual  powers,  he 
stood  forth  the  facile  princeps,  the  acknowledged  leader  of 
the  Illinois  bar. 


38  MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

A  celebrated  English  critic  (Hazlit)  has  said  "  that 
great  natural  advantages  are  seldom  combined  with  great 
acquired  ones,  because  they  render  the  labor  requisite  to 
attain  the  latter  superfluous  and  irksome."  This  weighty- 
remark  is  not  inapplicable  to  Logan,  since  he  made  no 
pretensions  to  scholarship  in  any  pedantic  sense  of  the 
term.  He  never  collected  a  library  worthy  of  the  name, 
garnished  with  rare  and  expensive  works.  His  read- 
ing was  neither  varied  nor  classical.  His  researches 
were  chiefly  in  the  line  of  his  profession,  but  there  they 
were  thorough.  His  extraordinary  mental  endowments 
enabled  him  to  comprehend,  on  a  cursory  examination, 
what  would  require  ordinary  minds  patient  and  protracted 
labor  to  master.  His  intellect  was  not  only  capacious 
and  vigorous,  but  it  was  emphatically  quick,  keen  and 
subtle,  and  having  been  early  accustomed  to  habits  of 
close  investigation,  he  could  seize  upon  the  knottiest 
problems  of  law  and  unravel  them  with  the  greatest 
facihty.  "  Under  his  magic  touch  all  doubt  and  difficulty 
was  at  once  dispelled,  and  the  naked  truth  stood  forth 
plainly  and  palpably  defined." 

It  was  in  the  busy  court  of  justice  that  Logan  seemed 
most  at  home.  Indeed,  there  was  something  exhilarat- 
ing to  him  in  the  very  atmosphere  of  the  place.  Here 
his  exceptional  talents  were  displayed  in  their  best  light, 
and  here  he  was  to  be  seen  and  studied  to  the  best  advan- 
tage. Entertaining  and  instructive  it  was  to  observe  him 
before  a  jury  in  the  argument  of  some  important  cause. 
Eesting  one  foot  on  a  chair,  he  commences  with  a  few 
commonplace  remarks  uttered  in  a  clear  conversational 
tone.  He  then  lays  hold  of  the  leading  facts  and  strong 
points  of  his  case,  states  them  with  singular  perspicuity 
and  force,  dwells  on  them  at  length,  and  presents  them 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  39 

from  every  standpoint  favorable  to  his  client.  As  he  pro- 
gresses he  warms  to  his  work.  His  small  frame  invol- 
untarily assumes  a  more  erect  and  impressive  attitude  ; 
his  gestures  become  more  rapid ;  his  shrill  voice  is 
pitched  to  a  higher  key ;  his  gray  eyes  glow  with  anima- 
tion ;  every  muscle  is  at  play,  and  every  energy  of  his 
nature  aroused,  while  words,  sentences,  arguments,  illus- 
trations, appeals,  flow  in  torrents  from  his  lips.  At  the 
conclusion  of  his  speech  he  sinks  to  his  seat  in  a  profuse 
perspiration,  and  well  nigh  exhausted.  He  leaves  little 
else  to  be  said  on  his  side  of  the  case,  for  he  has  covered 
the  whole  ground. 

Some  French  writer  has  observed  that  "nothing  is 
beautiful  but  what  is  natural."  This  may  well  be  said  of 
Logan's  style  of  speaking,  which  was  formed  after  no 
model  except  his  own,  yet  was  beautiful  because  it  was 
natural.  He  was  an  eloquent  speaker,  though  his  elo- 
quence was  of  a  peculiar  kind,  and  difficult  to  describe. 
He  seemed  to  have  adopted  Chief  Justice  Marshall's 
maxim,  and  "  always  aimed  at  strength."  His  forte  was 
reasoning,  but  it  was  reason  imbued  with  mtense  anima- 
tion, and  he  drove  his  juries  to  conviction  as  much  by 
the  resistless  energy  of  his  style,  as  by  the  lucidity  and 
compactness  of  his  logic.  His  temperament  was  also 
strongly  emotional,  and  in  the  defense  of  persons 
arraigned  for  grave  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  he  some- 
times touched  with  a  master  hand  those  secret  springs  of 
feeling  and  passion  which  lie  in  the  recesses  of  every 
human  breast.  "Whenever  he  addressed  the  court  upon 
any  mooted  question  of  pleading  or  practice,  he  was 
heard  with  eager  attention  by  his  brethren  of  the  bar, 
because  he  threw  a  flood  of  light  upon  every  legal  prin- 
ciple he  discussed. 


40  MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

It  might  be  objected  to  Logan's  forensic  efforts,  and 
more  especially  his  jury  efforts,  that  they  abounded  in 
iteration,  though  the  fault  is  a  common  one  with  lawyers, 
and  arises  partly  from  the  nature  of  the  calling  itself. 
Moreover,  juries,  as  a  rule,  are  not  composed  of  a  trained 
order  of  intellect ;  and  it,  therefore,  seems  necessary  for 
the  skillful  advocate  to  repeat  over  and  recombine  the 
same  facts  and  arguments  in  a  variety  of  forms,  so  as  to 
impress  them  indelibly  upon  the  minds  of  the  men 
addressed,  and  thus  secure  the  desired  verdict. 

One  great  secret  of  his  success  as  a  practitioner  was 
due  to  the  fact  that,  like  Choate,  he  exerted  himself  to 
the  utmost  in  almost  every  suit  in  which  he  was  employed. 
It  mattered  not  what  was  the  tribunal,  the  party,  or  the 
fee,  "  he  put  forth  his  whole  strength,  summoning  to  his 
aid  the  resources  of  his  legal  learning,  his  logic,  his  wit, 
and  knowledge  of  men,  and  struggled  as  for  his  life  for 
the  mastery." 

It  is  a  quality  of  superior  and  dominating  minds  to 
rely  upon  themselves,  and  to  assume  the  leadership  in 
whatever  enterprise  they  may  engage.  Such  was  the 
case  with  Logan.  No  matter  what  the  character  and 
ability  of  the  counsel  associated  with  him  in  a  given  law 
suit,  he  occupied  the  foreground,  and  upon  him  rested 
the  chief  burden  of  the  controversy.  To  his  clients  "he 
was  faithful  to  a  degree  that  knew  no  bounds,  except  the 
bounds  of  honor."  He  identified  himself  for  the  time 
being  with  them,  made  their  cause  his  cause,  and  their 
interests  his  own.  It  would  be  hard  to  determine  in 
what  branch  of  the  science  of  jurisprudence  he  attained 
the  greatest  proficiency— whether  as  a  criminal,  a  com- 
mon law  or  chancery  lawyer— for  he  seemed  alike  at  home 
in  all,  and  in  all  he  shone  without  a  peer.  Few  men  in 
this  country  have  ever  brought  to  the  profession  of  the 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  41 

bar  SO  many  qualifications  to  ensure  success  as  he. 
"Logan  is  the  best  natural  lawyer  I  ever  knew,"  said  the 
late  Judge  McLean,  of  the  United  States  Court,  himself 
a  jurist  of  the  soundest  judgment  and  ripest  experience, 
and  such  is  the  concurring  testimony  of  his  legal  asso- 
ciates. 

His  demeanor  at  the  bar  was  neither  opinionative  nor 
arrogant,  but  was  characterized  by  a  proper  respect  for 
the  opinions  of  the  court,  and  by  an  affable  and  obliging 
disposition  toward  his  professional  brethren.  His  tem- 
per, however,  was  naturally  fiery,  and  quick  to  resent 
invidious  remarks  or  unprofessional  conduct  on  the  part 
of  opposing  counsel.  At  such  times  they  were  sure  to 
feel  the  sting  of  his  repartees,  keen  and  pungent  as  the 
rapier's  thrust. 

The  life  of  the  lawyer  in  full  practice  is  anything  but  a 
life  of  ease.  It  is  rather  one  of  excitement  and  anxiety, 
of  patient  investigation  and  often  of  protracted  toil  spent 
in  the  perusal  of  authorities,  in  the  preparation  of  briefs, 
and  in  the  trial  or  adjustment  of  vexatious  and  compli- 
cated causes.  Hence  in  time  he  becomes  literally  worn 
out  with  the  corroding  cares  of  his  clients,  and  when  the 
silver  thread  of  life  is  at  last  sundered  forever,  only  a 
scanty  and  fragmentary  record  remains  of  his  history. 
"  Probably  in  no  department  of  life,"  says  an  able  writer, 
"  is  there  displayed  so  much  talent  which  leaves  no  last- 
ing record.  The  shrewd  management  and  ready  wit,  the 
keen  retort,  the  deep  learning  and  the  impassioned  elo- 
quence of  the  accomplished  lawyer,  all  come  in  play  and 
tell  strongly  on  the  result,  but  they  do  their  work  and  are 
seen  no  more ;  felt  and  admired  at  the  time,  they  go  to 
make  up  the  contemporaneous  estimate  living  at  the 
place,  but  not  to  be  reproduced  for  other  times  and  other 
admirers."    How  next  to  impossible,  then,  in  a  skeleton 


42  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

sketch  like  this,  to  recall  and  portray  those  "nice  shades 
of  character  and  talent,  of  thought  and  feeling,  of  look 
and  gesture,"  of  wit  and  pathos,  which  went  to  form  the 
sum  total  of  Stephen  Trigg  Logan's  greatness  and  fame 
as  a  lawyer. 

In  private  life  Logan  was  one  of  the  most  exemplary 
of  men.  Simple  in  his  tastes,  methodical  in  his  habits, 
unpretentious  in  his  manners,  and  careless  of  his  attire, 
he  lived,  moved,  and  acted  as  if  he  were  one  of  the  least 
influential  and  observed  of  mankind.  He  was  punctual 
and  exact  in  all  his  business  transactions.  His  maxim 
was  to  "  owe  no  man  anything,"  and  to  pay  as  he  went — 
a  most  excellent  rule,  but  one  which  is  "more  honored  in 
the  breach  than  in  the  observance."  He  was  also  a  man 
of  unusually  strong  local  and  domestic  attachments,  pre- 
ferring the  quiet  of  his  own  comfortable  fireside  and  the 
society  of  his  own  family  to  that  of  all  others ;  and,  as  a 
corrollary  to  this,  he  was  one  of  the  kindest  of  husbands 
and  most  indulgent  of  fathers. 

Before  taking  our  leave  of  Logan,  it  may  not  be 
improper  to  say  that,  in  his  matured  and  declining  years, 
he  experienced  many  severe  alSictions.  He  outlived  the 
major  portion  of  his  immediate  family  and  kindred.  He 
lost  in  succession  all  four  of  his  sons,  whom  he  had 
doubtless  hoped  would  have  perpetuated  his  name  and 
fame  to  after  generations.  He  saw  his  aged  companion, 
the  mother  of  his  children,  borne  from  his  house  of 
mourning  to  "  the  house  appointed  for  all  living ; "  he 
followed  two  of  his  amiable  daughters  in  sorrow  to  the 
grave ;  but  amid  all  these  domestic  trials,  Logan  was 
Logan  still;  and,  at  length,  worn  out  by  the  toils  and 
conflicts  of  this  sublunary  life,  he  bowed  his  whitened 
head  in  submission  to  the  will  of  his  Creator,  and  slept 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  43 

with  bis  fathers.  No  more  shall  we  see  his  slight  form 
and  sharply-chiseled  features  on  our  busy  streets ;  no 
more  shall  we  meet  him  in  the  bustling  courts  of  law,  so 
long  the  theatre  of  his  intellectual  struggles  and  triumphs  ; 
and  never  more  shall  the  halls  of  justice  ring  with  the 
tones  of  his  shrill,  clear  voice.  For  that  heart  once  so 
fiery,  and  that  tongue  once  so  impassioned,  now  lie  pulse- 
less and  still  in  death. 

Thus  one  after  another  these  venerated  relics  of  the 
past,  these  tottering  monuments  of  a  former  and  perhaps 
better  generation,  are  going  hence  to  the  silent  land — 
"  to  that  shore  from  whose  sands  is  never  heard  the  echo 
of  retreating  footsteps."  "Thus,"  says  Irving,  "man 
passes  away;  his  name  gradually  perishes  from  record 
and  recollection ;  his  history  is  as  a  tale  that  is  told,  and 
his  very  monument  becomes  a  ruin." 

But,  sir,  I  will 

"No  farther  seek  his  merits  to  disclose, 
Nor  draw  his  frailties  from  their  dread  abode, 

There  they  alike  in  trembling  hope  repose, 
The  bosom  of  his  Father  and  his  God." 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  elaborate  panegyric,  the  ques- 
tion was  taken  upon  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions, 
and  they  were  unanimously  adopted.  The  Council  then 
adjourned. 


ACTION   IN    THE    CIRCUIT    COURT    CONCERNING     THE    DECEASE 
OF    STEPHEN    T.    LOGAN. 

The  Circuit  Court  of  Sangamon  County,  Illinois,  having 
convened  in  regular  session,  October  8,  1880,  with  Judge 
C.  S.  Zane  on  the  bench,  the  Hon.  John  T.  Stuart 
addressed  the  Court  announcing  the  death  of  Stephen  T. 


44  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

Logan — the  Nestor  of  this  bar — and  in  a  few  well-chosen 
words,  presented  the  resolutions  that  had  been  adopted 
at  the  meeting  of  the  Sangamon  County  bar.  Thereupon 
Judge  B.  S.  Edwards  asked  that  the  resolution  (already 
inserted)  with  the  obituary  addresses  on  that  occasion, 
be  spread  upon  the  records  of  the  Court.  In  ordering 
this  to  be  done.  Judge  Zane  feelingly  said : 

REMARKS    OF   JUDGE    CHARLES   S.    ZANE. 

The  estimation  in  which  the  late  Stephen  T.  Logan 
was  held  by  his  professional  brethren,  expressed  in  these 
resolutions,  will  be  recorded  on  the  records  of  the  Court 
over  which  he  presided  for  a  time,  and  in  which  he 
practiced  for  many  years.  From  an  acquaintance  with 
him,  and  in  view  of  the  occasion,  I  feel  authorized,  also, 
to  express  briefly  my  appreciation  of  his  mental  and 
moral  qualities — of  his  life  and  character.  This  under- 
taking I  feel  unable  worthily  to  perform.  It  is  difficult 
to  specify  the  capacities  of  the  human  mind,  and  harder 
to  describe  the  peculiar  qualities  of  those  powers  in 
any  individual,  especially  those  of  so  remarkable  a 
man.  We  believe  that  there  is  an  incomprehensible 
power  which  manifests  the  universe — all  reality — every 
existence  ;  that  among  these  is  the  human  mind  connected 
with  a  physical  organization ;  that  the  essence  of  neither 
can  be  understood — that  both  possess  qualities  which  can 
be  distinguished ;  that  one  is  material,  and  the  other  is 
believed  to  be  immaterial.  One  is  perceived  through  the 
senses.  The  other  is  known  from  the  expressions  of  its 
activities.  That  the  powers  of  either  may  be  strengthened 
and  their  capacities  increased  by  good  treatment,  or 
impaired  or  destroyed  by  dissipation.  The  appearance 
of  Judge  Logan  did  not  indicate  physical  power,  but  he 
practiced  those  virtues  friendly  to  health  and  life,  and 


:memoies  of  Stephen  t.  logan.  45 

enjoyed  both  for  more  than  eighty  years.  Our  brother 
was  most  remarkable  for  that  knowledge  which  is  of 
internal  origin.  His  perceptions  of  the  relations  between 
causes  and  effects — of  the  principles  relating  to  conduct, 
the  springs  of  human  action — were  quick  and  clear. 

The  mind  remembers  those  things  to  which  its  attention 
is  directed  and  in  which  an  interest  is  felt.  Judge  Logan 
was  always  interested  in  principles  and  the  reasons  upon 
which  they  stood.  And  he  possessed  the  capacity  of  at 
once  riveting  his  attention  on  any  subject  in  which  he 
became  interested.  Therefore  he  remembered  relations — 
reasons  and  principles.  While  others  might  remember 
names,  dates  and  isolated  facts  and  abstract  principles 
better  than  he,  but  few  could  recall  principles  in  the  con- 
crete so  readily  and  well.     His  memory  was  philosophical. 

Our  brother  took  but  little  pleasure  in  considering  the 
relations  of  numbers,  lines  and  surfaces — mathematical 
problems.  He  considered  motives,  and  actions  with  their 
causes  and  consequences, — social,  political  and  legal  ques- 
tions. He  succeeded  better  in  moral  than  in  mathe- 
matical reasoning.  In  the  former  he  was  very  ready, 
accurate  and  profound.  Ideas  came  into  his  conscious- 
ness vividly — his  mind  was  remarkable  for  its  activity  and 
clearness.  Though  he  could  readily  understand  the 
precise  similarities  and  differences  in  cases,  and  was  apt 
in  reasoning  by  analogy,  he  relied  more  upon  the  discus- 
sion and  application  of  principles,  and  in  drawing  infer- 
ences therefrom,  than  upon  precedents.  He  believed,  as 
did  Lord  Mansfield,  that  "the  law  does  not  consist  of 
particular  cases,  but  of  general  principles,  which  are 
illustrated  and  expounded  by  those  cases." 

Judge  Logan  was  deeply  sensible  of  the  effects  which 
time  had  brought  upon  him,  and  looked  forward  with 
solicitude  to  the  time  when  life's  journey  should  end.     To 


46  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

these,  and  to  the  changes  which  had  come  under  his 
observation  in  the  past,  and  which  awaited  the  future,  he 
often  referred.  He  saw  the  forces  of  nature  uniting,  con- 
structing, changing  and  separating  all  things.  He  was  a 
close  observer  of  natural  phenomena,  and  possessing  a 
mind  capable  of  long  sequences,  he  could  ascend  to  general 
principles  and  reach  expanded  views.  He  saw  that  all 
things  w^ere  changing  from  the  most  insignificant  organiza- 
tion to  the  grandest  and  sublimest  in  space.  He  con- 
sidered human  conduct  in  primitive  times,  and  the  social 
systems  which  have  grown  out  of  the  nature  of  man  in  the 
various  stages  of  his  progress  and  development,  since 
he  emerged  into  the  light  of  history.  He  studied  the 
governments  which  have  passed  away,  and  those  now 
standing  for  the  regulation  of  human  conduct  and  protec- 
tion of  society.  And  while  he  doubtless  believed  that  no 
form,  condition  or  relation  was  abiding,  he  saw  beneath 
all  an  incomprehensible  power,  for  which  no  begin- 
ning, no  end,  no  bounds  could  be  conceived ;  whose  forces 
are  persistent  and  uniform,  and  whose  actions,  under 
similar  conditions,  produces  like  effects ;  that  the  atten- 
tion of  suggestive  and  discriminating  minds  directed  to 
such  action,  and  to  the  conditions,  ha\e  learned  pre- 
cisely what  effects  the  action  of  such  forces  will  produce 
under  given  conditions,  and  that  a  statement  of  such 
knowledge  constitutes  science.  He  respected  nature's 
laws.  He  studied  municipal  law  as  a  great  system, 
created  and  formed  according  to  the  moral  sentiments  of 
the  people.  He  considered  morality  as  a  science  growing 
out  of  the  nature  of  man — the  end  of  which  is  human 
welfare.  He  studied  human  nature  out  of  which  ethics 
have  grown,  and  in  which  they  are  rooted.  He  knew  that 
the  love  of  life,  the  love  of  liberty,  the  domestic  affections, 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  47 

human  sympathy,  a  fellow-feehng,  the  feehng  of  happi- 
ness and  pain,  belong  to  man  and  are  part  of  his  nature. 
And  it  is  inferred,  tliat  he  beheved  that  a  feehng  of 
respect  and  reverence  for  such  rights,  affections  and 
behefs  naturally  arose  in  the  mind.  He  saw  that 
certain  conduct  necessarily  causes  human  happiness, 
and  other  conduct  human  pain,  and  that  those  actions 
which  in  all  their  consequences,  immediate  and  remote, 
whose  effects  in  the  aggregate  are  human  happiness, 
human  welfare,  are  right ;  and  that  those  actions  which 
in  all  their  effects,  immediate  and  remote,  aggregate  pain, 
human  misery,  are  wrong.  Therefore  he  believed  in  the 
moral  rule  which  forbids  all  conduct  the  effects  of  which 
aggregate  a  surplus  of  human  pain  over  happiness.  He 
believed  that  good  faith,  honesty,  temperance,  economy 
and  industry  should  prevail,  and  that  the  limitations 
upon  the  actions  and  enjoyments  of  men,  so  far  as 
imposed  by  laws,  should  be  equal ;  and  that  such  rules 
of  conduct,  and  all  others,  the  observance  of  which  pro- 
mote human  welfare,  are  morally  right,  and  should  be 
obeyed. 

Our  brother  had  studied  profoundly  in  his  youth,  and 
through  his  long  professional  career,  the  science  of  ethics 
and  of  muncipal  law,  which  is  based  upon  it.  He  under- 
stood that  all  just  laws  recognize  and  enforce  moral 
principles.  That  while  all  the  duties  enjoined  by  morality 
may  not  be  enforced  by  municipal  laws,  because  their 
enforcement  thereby  would  be  impracticable,  that  all  just 
laws  are  based  upon  ethics.  He  saw  that  the  laws  of 
different  countries  differ,  as  the  moral  sentiments  of  those 
who  make  them  differ ;  that  in  some  the  law-makers 
believe  in  the  divine  right  of  rulers,  and  in  orders  of 
nobility,  with  hereditary  rights  and  privileges,  and  that 
their  laws   accord  with  their  moral    sentiments — their 


48  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

ethics.  That  the  American  people  beheve  in  equality  of 
rights  and  privileges,  in  equal  limitations  upon  their  con- 
duct, that  their  laws  conform  to  their  moral  sentiments ; 
that  upon  this  great  idea  their  government  reposes,  the 
first  so  modeled  and  constructed  upon  that  principle  that 
all  tongues,  creeds  and  races  alike  find  shelter  under  it. 
Equality  is  the  substance,  the  indispensable  element  of 
all  justice  and  all  equity,  and  the  experience  of  man  shows 
that  it  promotes  human  welfare.  To  our  brother,  as  a 
law-maker,  the  question  must  have  always  recurred, 
"Ought  the  law  to  be  modified,  changed  or  enacted?" 
The  question  was,  "Will  the  proposed  law  promote  the 
welfare  of  the  people — human  welfare?"  The  appeal 
was  always  to  his  sense  of  right — his  conscience. 

The  common  law,  constitutional  law,  and  statute  law — 
all  justice  and  all  equity — are  the  expressions  of  the  moral 
sense  of  the  law-makers,  and  that  sentiment  is  the  voice 
of  humanity — the  expression  of  human  nature. 

While  our  brother  had  a  discriminating  mind,  and 
could  make  subtle  distinctions,  and  was  able  to  consider 
the  parts  of  a  complex  question,  to  compare  propositions 
which  concern  particulars,  and  to  deduce  inferences  there- 
from to  a  great  degree,  he  never  became  perplexed  or 
confused  with  particulars.  He  always  showed  an  ability 
to  expand  his  views,  and  to  so  state  and  illustrate  obscure 
inferences,  as  to  make  himself  clearly  understood.  He 
could  follow  antecedent  and  consequent  cause  and  effect 
in  long  succession,  and  recognize  every  relation,  all  the 
links  in  the  chain,  with  great  clearness. 

Our  brother  felt  deeply.  He  was  impressed  by  the 
changes  occurring  around  him,  most  pathetically  by  those 
w^hich  effected  or  severed  the  nearer  and  more  sacred  rela- 
tions.    His  manner  of  expression  was  earnest ;  at  times 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T,  LOGAN.  49 

he  spoke  with  vehemence,  but  he  always  accurately  com- 
municated the  state  of  his  mind.  He  was  a  man  of  fine 
sensibilities  and  strong  emotions. 

Judge  Logan  was  born  in  the  first  year  of  the  present 
century,  and  in  his  youth  met  and  associated  with  men 
who  took  part  in  that  great  struggle  which  resulted  in 
founding  a  Government  which  imposes  equal  limitations 
on  the  conduct  of  its  citizens,  and  which  leaves  open  alike 
to  all,  every  field  of  human  action.  Amid  such  inspira- 
tions, and  in  view  of  the  possibilities  of  the  future,  he 
looked  up  to  a  science  whose  principles  were  being  applied 
in  a  new  Government,  differing  fundamentally  from  those 
then  standing,  or  those  which  had  disappeared  in  the 
past, — to  a  science  which  defines  the  duties  of  human 
beings  in  civilized  society,  and  specifies  the  modes  and 
methods  by  which  they  may  be  enforced  and  secured.  In 
the  vigor  of  manhood  he  selected  this  place,  then  a  fron- 
tier village,  for  his  future  home.  And  here  he  discharged 
the  various  duties  of  a  citizen  the  remainder  of  his 
long  life.  Here  he  sought  to  ascertain  the  truth,  some- 
times from  conflicting  testimony,  and  to  expound  and 
apply  the  law.  Here  he  held  the  scales  of  justice  with  an 
even  hand.  Here,  as  a  law  giver,  he  sought  to  benefit  his 
fellow-men  in  aiding  to  form  a  constitution,  and  in  enact- 
ing laws  for  his  adopted  State. 

Here  he  practiced  his  profession  with  great  success  and 
ability,  and  engaged  in  the  discussion  of  questions  relat- 
ing to  public  affairs,  until,  in  the  evening  of  his  life,  he  felt 
the  infirmities  of  age  approaching,  when  he  retired  from 
the  field  of  his  professional  labors,  with  an  ample  fortune, 
and  without  a  spot  or  a  blemish  upon  his  character,  to 
the  quiet  of  his  home  ;  and  in  the  enjoyments  of  its  com- 
forts, excep.t  when  the  bereavements  from  which  life  has 
—4 


50  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

no  retreat,  entered  with  their  shadows,  their  clouds  and 
their  darkness,  he  hved  until  in  obedience  to  the  summons 
of  the  final  messenger,  he  pillowed  his  head  in  that 
repose  from  which  the  inspirations  of  religion  and  the 
longings  for  immortality  in  the  human  soul  give  hope  that 
he  will  rise  renewed  with  the  vigor  of  youth  upon  the  dawn 
of  a  brighter  morning,  to  a  day  without  infirmities  or 
bereavements,  without  darkness,  clouds  or  shadows. 

Judge  Zane,  upon  concluding  his  remarks,  invited  the 
Hon.  Mason  Brayman,  who  was  present,  to  speak.  Gen. 
Brayman  responded  as  follows  : 

GENERAL  BRAYMAn's  ADDRESS. 

May  it  Please  the  Court  : — Until  coming  into  court,  a 
few  minutes  since,  I  was  unaware  of  the  matter  under 
consideration.  Under  the  encouraging  intimation  of  your 
Honor,  I  cannot  refrain,  even  at  this  late  day,  from  join- 
ing my  fellow-members  of  the  bar  in  the  tribute  of  respect 
and  veneration  just  paid  .to  the  memory  of  Stephen  T. 
Logan.  When  I  came  to  this  bar  in  early  professional 
life — it  was  in  1842 — he  was  in  the  plenitude  of  his  powers. 
There  were  giants  in  those  days.  Here  stood  Lincoln, 
Douglas,  Stuart,  Baker,  Bledsoe,  McDougal,  Strong, 
Edwards,  Lamborn,  and  many  others  then  rising  into 
eminence  and  since  distinguished — a  galaxy  of  legal  learn- 
ing and  eloquence  seldom  equalled— yet  all  paid  willing 
homage  to  the  masterly  ability  of  Judge  Logan,  and 
willingly  accorded  him  the  leadership.  Like  other  younger 
members  of  the  bar,  I  soon  learned  to  appreciate  the 
soundness  of  his  judgment,  the  accuracy  of  his  learning, 
the  brilliancy  of  his  legal  conceptions. 

Judge  Logan  was  not  favored  with  a  classical  educa- 
tion, nor  did  he  acquire  his  legal  training  in  the  schools, 
but  was  one   of  those  remarkable  men  whose   natural 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  51 

genius  and  force  of  character  overcame  all  obstacles.  He 
had  wonderful  quickness  and  power  of  concentration.  I 
have  never  known  at  the  bar,  anywhere,  a  man  who  could 
so  readily  seize  the  strong  points  of  his  case  and  present 
them  to  the  court  and  jury  with  equal  clearness  and  force  ; 
nor  one  who  would  so  readily  uncover  the  weak  points  of 
an  adversary.  He  was  vigorous  and  untiring  in  his 
client's  cause,  yet  just,  fair  and  courteous.  The  younger 
members  of  the  bar  believed  in  him,  and  became  better 
lawyers  and  nobler  men  in  endeavoring  to  follow  his 
example  and  teachings. 

As  in  professional,  so  in  social  and  business  life,  he  was 
kind  and  faithful,  even-handed  and  just,  and  those  who 
remain  of  his  family  and  familiar  friends,  can  have  none 
but  happy  and  grateful  recollections  of  him.  It  was  not 
in  his  nature  to  be  diffusive  in  his  aims,  or  to  vary  his 
employments.  His  home  was  on  the  bench  and  at  the 
bar.  Political  life  had  no  cha3;m  for  him.  On  one  occa- 
sion, I  recollect  well,  when,  as  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives  here,  he  rose  to  the  dignity  of  statesman- 
ship, and  at  a  most  critical  moment  saved  Illinois  from 
the  danger  of  repudiation,  and  aided  in  laying  the  foun- 
dation, upon  which  was  built  a  restored  credit,  and  after 
which,  in  natural  sequence,  came  an  era  of  financial 
greatness  and  prosperity  scarcely  matched  in  the  history 
of  States.  It  was  when  the  bill  for  refunding  our  old 
State  debt  was  brought  into  the  House.  Our  internal 
improvement  system  had  been  a  disastrous  and  disgrace- 
ful failure.  We  owed  fourteen  millions,  mostly  in  bonds 
not  worth  fourteen  cents  to  the  dollar.  The  interest  was 
unpaid.  The  shadow  of  repudiation  had  fallen  upon  the 
public  mind,  and  infected  members  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly. At  the  bottom,  the  people  of  Illinois  were  honest. 
While  confessing  that  they  could  not  pay,  they  stoutly 


UNIVERSITY  Of 
laiNOIS  LIBRARY 


52  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

resolved  tliat  they  would  pay— sometime.  A  night  session 
was  held  for  the  final  struggle  upon  the  momentous  meas- 
ure. Judge  Logan  held  himself  in  reserve  until  this 
hour.  All  were  eager  to  know  his  position,  for  it  was  felt 
that  the  fate  of  the  bill  was  in  his  hands.  This  old  hall 
was  packed  to  the  utmost.  He  took  the  floor — the  vener- 
able and  honored  Ninian  W.  Edwards  being  in  the  chair — 
and  in  one  of  the  most  brilliant  ejBforts  of  his  life,  sup- 
ported the  bill.  I  recall  one  of  his  thrilling  sentiments  : 
"  I  know  my  constituents  of  Sangamon  county,  and  they 
know  me.  I  know  that  they  did  not  send  me  here  to  make 
repudiators  of  them — and  they  know  that  no  constituency 
can  make  a  repudiator  of  me !"  The  bill  was  safe. 
When  he  closed,  it  was  passed  under  the  previous  ques- 
tion. From  that  hour  Illinois  went  forward.  Her  three 
or  four  hundred  thousand  then,  go  beyond  three  million 
now.  Her  overshadowing  debt  has  disappeared,  and  in  a 
few  weeks  the  last  dollar  will  be  paid.  To  him  whose 
memory  you  here  commemorate,  and  to  those  who  stood 
with  him  in  those  trying  hours,  Illinois  is  indebted  for  a 
credit  restored,  and  honor  untarnished.  The  language 
of  eulogy  well  befits  this  occasion.  Such  examples  are 
above  all  price,  for  they  are  a  hving  light,  guiding  the 
feet  and  dignifying  the  energies  of  men  who  come  after, 
through  all  time.  Without  State  credit,  which  is  State 
honor,  there  can  be  no  State  pride.  As  it  was,  and  is, 
every  citizen  of  Illinois  may  look  with  satisfaction  to  the 
past,  with  pride  to  the  present  and  hope  to  the  future. 
The  names  of  her  great  and  good  men  are  written  upon 
the  brightest  pages  of  our  country's  history.  She  gave 
Lincoln— a  name  redolent  with  glorious,  gratifying,  pain- 
ful recollections.  She  gave  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
gallant  men  to  the  Union  in  the  hour  of  its  great  trial. 
Her  constitution  and  body  of  law  are  the  best  devised  for 


MEMOIES  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  53 

any  State.  Her  internal  improvements,  her  agricultural 
resources  and  enterprise  are  unequalled.  Her  common 
school  system  is  magnificently  endowed — her  colleges  and 
institutions  of  learning  are  found  everywhere — affording 
means  of  educating  every  child  she  has.  All  the  elements 
of  a  high  Christian  civilization  are  at  work.  Her  judi- 
ciary is  faithful,  and  the  laws  wisely  administered. 

These  blessings  do  not  come  by  accident.  Under  a 
guiding  Providence,  they  result  from  human  foresight, 
human  labor,  human  patience.  The  hands  of  the  builders 
may  be  busy  to-day  and  to-morrow,  placing  one  stone 
upon  another,  while  the  brains  that  contrived,  the  hearts 
tliat  swelled  with  expectation,  and  the  hands  that  laid  the 
foundations  long  ago,  are  at  rest.  To  this  early  work — to 
this  wise  beginning,  Stephen  T.  Logan  gave  his  active 
brain,  his  generous  heart  and  fashioning  hand.  With 
him  have  gone  most  of  those  who  set  out  with  him.  They 
rest  from  their  labors,  and  those  who  survive  will  soon 
follow.  The  morning  sun,  whose  rays  are  glinted  back 
from  furrowed  brows  and  frosted  heads,  will,  very  soon, 
as  it  goes  down  in  the  western  horizon,  cast  its  mellowed 
glance  upon  the  sod  that  covers  them.  In  this  is  our 
lesson.  And  it  is  well  to-day  to  thank  God  for  every  good 
influence  that  is  awakened  in  these  memories  of  the 
venerated  friend  whom  you  love  and  honor. 

Court  then  adjourned. 


COMMEMOEATIVE     PROCEEDINGS     IN    THE    ILLINOIS     SUPREME 
COURT,  IN  HONOR  OF  THE  LATE   STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

On  January  6th,  1881,  during  the  first  week  of  the 
annual  term  of  the  State  Supreme  Court  for  the  Central 
Grand  Division  of  Illinois,  convened  in  the  court  room  at 


54  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T,  LOGAX. 

the  new  Capitol  in  Springfield,  a  life-sized  portrait,  in 
oil,  of  the  lamented  Logan  was  presented  to  the  court, 
and  also  the  resolutions  of  respect  passed  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Bar  of  Sangamon  county,  held  on  the  19th  of  -July 
preceding.  The  announcement  of  these  commemorative 
exercises  had  served  to  attract  to  the  spacious  court  room 
a  large  and  interested  audience,  composed  of  local  mem- 
bers of  the  bar,  old  personal  friends  of  Judge  Logan, 
attorneys  in  attendance  upon  the  courts,  and  the  State 
Bar  Association,  together  with  many  members  of  the 
Legislature,  then  in  session,  and  State  officers. 

At  ten  o'clock  the  Supreme  Justices  made  their  appear- 
ance and  formally  opened  court.  Several  orders  were 
announced  and  motions  entered,  after  which  the  Chief 
Justice,  Dickey,  announced  that  the  Court  awaited  the 
further  pleasure  of  the  bar. 

presentation  of  logan's  portrait. 

At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings,  the  Hon.  Milton  Hay 
arose  and  addressed  the  Court,  and  in  presenting  the 
portrait  of  Judge  Logan  made  the  following  address : 

remarks  of  HON.  MILTON  HAY. 

May  it  Please  Your  Honor  :  In  the  interval  that  may 
now  take  place  before  other  proceedings  are  entered  upon 
before  your  Honors,  I  have  a  matter  to  submit  to  the 
Court — or  to  the  Judges  of  the  Court. 

The  family  of  the  late  Stephen  T.  Logan  have  author- 
ized me  to  present  to  the  State,  through  the  channel  of 
the  honorable  Judges  of  this  Court,  the  portrait  of  Judge 
Logan,  here  present.  This  portrait  was  painted  by  the 
artist  Healey  but  a  short  time  before  the  death  of  the 
Judge.  The  picture  the  family  believe  to  be  a  very  faith- 
ful likeness  of  him  as  he  appeared  in  the  latter  years 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  55 

of  his  life,  and  although  his  contemporaries,  who  have 
survived  him,  may  miss  in  the  expression  of  the  features 
something  of  that  vigor  which  characterized  them  at 
the  robust  period  of  his  life,  they  nevertheless  observe 
in  its  place  a  serenity,  without  loss  of  intellectual  clear- 
ness, which  leaves  little  to  regret  at  the  mellowing  influ- 
ence which  the  hand  of  time  had  upon  him.  The  family 
have  desired  me  to  express  a  condition,  to  the  effect  that 
this  portrait  shall  remain  a  fixture  of  this  Hall  of  Justice, 
with  the  privilege,  however,  to  the  State,  to  remove  it  to 
any  other  room  of  this  Capitol  that  may  be  specially 
appropriated  to  works  of  art  and  portraiture. 

Chief  Justice  Dickey  accepted  the  portrait,  with  the 
remark  that  the  wishes  of  the  donors  would  be  observed. 

PKESENTATIONS  OF  THE  EESOLUTIONS. 

The  Hon.  Orville  H.  Browning,  of  Quincy, — a  life-long 
friend  of  Judge  Logan — who  had  been  selected  to  present 
to  the  Court  the  resolutions  of  the  Bar  meeting,  then 
arose,  and  in  his  peculiarly  impressive  manner,  delivered 
the  following  able  and  eloquent  eulogy : 

MR.  browning's  address. 
If  the  Court  Please  :  On  the  17th  day  of  July,  1880, 
the  Hon.  Stephen  T.  Logan,  a  distinguished  member  of 
the  bar  of  this  city,  departed  this  life.  The  event  could 
not  be  permitted  to  pass  unheeded  by  his  professional 
brethren ;  hence  the  members  of  the  bar  of  Sangamon 
county  and  such  others  from  adjoining  counties  as  were 
able  to  reach  this  city  in  time,  assembled  to  give  expres- 
sion to  their  sorrow  for  his  death  and  their  very  great 
respect  for  his  memory,  and  have  charged  me  with  the 
honored,  but  melancholy,  duty  of  making  the  proper 
announcement  to  this  court,  and  of  presenting  the  reso- 
lutions adopted  on  that  occasion. 


56  MEMOmS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

The  practice  of  imputing  to  every  deceased  member  of 
the  bar  all  the  virtues,  and  of  inscribing  his  name  high 
upon  the  roll  of  able,  learned  and  distinguished  barristers 
and  jurists,  which  has  been  but  too  common,  is  not  to  be 
commended  ;  but  when  the  truly  good,  able  and  eminent 
•die,  it  is  fitting  that  a  just  tribute  be  paid  to  their  mem- 
ories, and  that  truthful  memorials  of  their  honorable  and 
useful  lives  be  preserved. 

No  man  who  ever  adorned  the  profession  and  shed 
lustre  upon  the  bar  of  this  State,  has  been  more  worthy, 
or  has  had  a  stronger  or  more  legitimate  claim  to  such 
recognition  than  our  deceased  brother.  He  did  honor  to 
the  profession  while  he  lived,  and  it  would  be  a  reproach 
to  the  bar  of  the  State  should  they  fail  to  do  honor  to  his 
memory,  now  that  he  is  dead. 

In  more  than  usually  large  measure  he  combined  the 
attributes  of  a  good  man,  a  valuable  citizen,  an  eloquent 
and  powerful  barrister,  and  an  able  and  upright  judge. 
Conspicuous  for  the  qualities  which  enter  into  all  these 
characters,  he  could  not  fail  to  deserve  and  win  the  admi- 
ration and  esteem  of  those  who  knew  him. 

Eesiding  m  different  parts  of  the  State,  and  the  circuits 
in  which  we  practiced  being  remote  from  each  other,  I 
never  had  the  privilege  of  meeting  him  in  the  nisi  prius 
courts  of  Illinois.  My  professional  acquaintance  with 
him  was  derived  chiefly  from  our  meetings  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State,  and  in  the  Circuit  and  District  Courts 
of  the  United  States.  I  had  also  appeared  before  him 
whilst  he  was  on  the  bench,  in  some  important  and  excit- 
ing cases,  and  from  the  opportunities  thus  afforded  of 
judging  of  his  character  and  abilities  as  a  lawyer,  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  say  that,  in  many  of  the  elements  and 
attributes  of  a  great  lawyer,  he  was  the  peer  of  any  one 
I  have  known. 


MEMOIES  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  57 

I  have  no  wish  or  intention  of  undue  praise.  I  wish 
to  speak  of  him  only  the  plain  truth,  and  I  am  sure  it 
will  not  be  regarded  as  exaggeration  to  say  that  he  stood 
in  the  very  front  rank  of  the  legal  profession  of  Illinois, 
and  that  he  needed  only  a  larger  theater  of  action  than 
that  to  which  he  had  limited  himself,  to  have  made  him 
as  widely  and  as  prominently  known  and  as  highly  dis- 
tinguished throughout  the  Eepublic  as  the  most  eminent 
and  famous  of  contemporary  law^-ers  in  the  United 
States. 

An  intuitive  love  of  justice  and  fair  play  in  all  the 
conflicting  interests  of  life;  clearness  of  perception; 
acuteness  and  accuracy  of  observation  ;  a  quick  compre- 
hension of  the  relations  of  things  and  their  diiferences 
and  distinctions,  and  of  the  motives  which  stimulate  and 
control  the  actions  of  men,  were  endowments  which 
peculiarly  fitted  him  for  success  and  distinction  in  his 
chosen  profession. 

He  belonged  to  a  school  of  lawyers  of  which  but  few 
now  remain.  He  was  of  that  class  who  had  not  had  the 
benefits  of  being  taught  by  lectures  in  law  schools,  but 
who  learned  the  fundamental  principles  and  maxims  of 
the  law  with  the  precision  and  accuracy  with  which  a 
child  learns,  or  ought  to  learn,  his  catechism,  by  the 
hard,  close,  diligent  study  of  Bacon,  Coke,  Hale  Saun- 
ders, Tidd,  Blackstone,  Chitty,  Kent,  and  kindred 
authors.  This  course  of  study  was  generally  prosecuted 
in  the  office,  and  under  the  instruction  of  some  able 
practitioner.  And  when  the  student  had  advanced  so 
far  as  to  entitle  him  to  admission  to  the  bar,  he  was 
introduced  to  a  system  of  practice  in  strong  contrast  to 
that  which  obtains  at  present,  and  which  was,  undoubt- 
edly, very  favorable  to  quick,  vigorous  and  subtle  think- 
ing and  reasoning.      Eidiug  a  circuit  composed  of  many 


58  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

counties,  "was  habitual  with  every  prominent  member  of 
the  bar  at  that  time,  and  as  a  consequence,  the  bulk  of 
his  business,  which  involved  litigation,  lay,  mainly,  out- 
side the  county  of  his  residence,  so  that  he  rarely  had 
any  information  or  knowledge  of  the  cases  he  would  be 
called  upon  to  try,  till  he  had  reached  the  court  where 
they  were  pending.  He  then  had  neither  time  nor  means 
to  ransack  reports  (of  which,  fortunately,  there  were  then 
but  few)  nor  to  catechise  and  drill  witnesses.  Issues  had, 
generally,  already  been  formed  by  local  lawyers,  and  the 
circuit  barrister,  who  was  often  engaged  about  the  time 
the  case  was  called  for  trial,  had  time  only  to  cast  his 
eye  over  the  pleadings,  to  ascertain  what  the  issues  were, 
and  could  possess  himself  of  the  facts  only  as  they  were 
disclosed  by  the  witnesses  upon  the  stand.  For  the  law 
which  was  applicaple  to,  and  which  was  to  govern  and 
control  such  a  case,  he  had,  necessarily,  to  fall  back  upon 
his  own  resources,  and  to  di-aw  from  the  stores  of  knowl- 
edge which  he  had  previously  accumulated. 

All  his  powers  of  memory  were  put  in  action  to  recall, 
upon  the  moment,  the  general  principles  of  the  law,  and 
all  his  skill  and  sublety  in  logic  and  dialectics  were 
brought  into  exercise  in  the  application  of  the  law  to  the 
facts. 

This  system  of  practice  was  well  adapted  to  the  con- 
stant growth  and  development  of  the  intellectual  faculties, 
and  to  quickening,  strengthening  and  enlarging  their 
powers  and  capacities.  It  encouraged  habits  of  close 
and  accurate  observation,  a  clear,  sharp  analysis  of  the 
facts  observed,  and  a  ready  and  forcible  exposition  of  the 
principles  of  the  law. 

It  was  a  system  which  brought  out  all  the  legal  learn- 
ing, and  all  the  argumentative,  logical  and  oratorical 
force  of  those  engaged,  and  made  of  almost  every  nisi 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  59 

prius  trial  an  attractive  intellectual  entertainment.  No 
one  better  illustrated  the  advantages  of  this  method  of 
practice  than  Judge  Logan.  He  fully  appropriated  all  its 
benefits,  and  was  one  of  its  highest  products. 

The  same  habit  of  clear  statement,  and  direct,  close 
and  concentrated  reasoning  which  he  had  acquired  on  the 
circuit,  he  carried  with  him  into  the  court  of  final  resort. 
In  his  day  and  generation  all  cases  in  the  supreme  court, 
as  well  as  in  the  courts  below,  were  argued  orally,  and  he 
never  vexed  the  judges  with  long,  elaborate  briefs  and 
essays,  nor  never  tried  their  patience  by  the  tedious  read- 
ing of  authorities.  I  can  not  now  recall  any  instance  of 
his  stopping  in  the  course  of  an  argument  to  read  from  any 
book.  He  made  a  lucid  and  intelligent  statement  of  the 
facts,  and  of  the  elemental  principles,  and  axioms  of  the 
law  of  the  case,  and  all  the  rest  was  pointed,  vigorous 
argument. 

His  mind  was  as  flexible  and  accute  as  it  was  strong 
and  robust.  He  thought  with  great  clearness,  and  conse- 
quently commanded  a  corresponding  clearness  of  expres- 
sion, and  never  failed,  however  abstruse  the  subject,  or 
subtle  the  thought,  to  make  those  who  heard  him  com- 
prehend his  exact  meaning.  His  capacity  in  this  regard 
was  very  remarkable.  I  do  not  think  I  have  ever  known 
any  one  who  possessed,  in  fuller  measure,  the  faculty 
of  conveying,  clearly  and  distinctly,  into  the  minds  of 
others,  the  precise  image  and  idea  which  filled  his  own. 
Hence  he  was  capable  of  saying  what  he  meant,  and  of 
making  others  understand  what  he  meant,  in  the  fewest 
possible  words.  There  was  with  him  no  circumlocution, 
diffuseness  or  repetition.  He  obscured  nothing  by  a  super- 
fluity of  words.  His  addresses,  whether  to  the  court  or 
jury,  so  far  as  I  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  hear  them, 
were  models  of  condensation — short  and  concise — but  not 


60  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

too  concise  to  be  lucid  and  convincing ;  and  when  he  con- 
cluded, there  seemed  to  be  nothing  left  to  be  said  on  his 
side  of  a  case. 

In  popular  estimation,  he  would  hardly  be  regarded  as 
an  accomplished  orator.  He  had  not  studied,  nor  did  he 
attempt  to  practice,  the  artificial  graces  of  elocution.  He 
never  postured  for  effect,  nor  made  a  display  of  intellectual 
fire- works  to  arouse  vulgar  applause,  but  sought  "the 
suffrage  of  the  wise."  He  was  not  ornate  and  showy, 
either  in  diction  or  action ;  but  his  diction  was  pure, 
chaste,  and  vigorous,  his  action  natural  and  impressive, 
his  reasoning  clear,  cogent  and  convincing,  and  his  pas- 
sion spontaneous  and  contagious.  This  combination  of 
qualities  marked  him  as  a  speaker  of  true  and  genuine 
eloquence. 

I  speak  of  him  as  he  impressed  me.  Unimposing  as 
his  person  and  presence  were  outside  the  forum,  there 
was  that  about  him,  when  stimulated  by  the  collision  of 
debate,  which  imparted  to  his  manner,  and  his  shrill 
voice,  an  extraordinary  fascination.  It  was  the  fascina- 
tion of  awakened  genius. 

When  he  arose  to  speak,  the  first  words  which  he 
uttered  fixed  the  attention  of  aU  who  heard  him.  This 
was  especially  observable  in  the  case  of  strangers  who 
chanced  to  be  present,  and  who  neither  knew  the  man, 
nor  were  interested  in  the  occasion.  They  were  sure  to 
be  strongly  attracted  by  the  first  tones  of  his  voice,  sure 
to  feel  that  they  were  in  the  presence  of  no  ordinary  or 
common-place  man,  and  unless  drawn  away  by  some 
urgent  necessity,  were  very  certain  to  yield  to  the  spell, 
and  remain  to  the  close  of  his  address. 

He  studied  his  profession,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  his  native  State,  Kentucky,  and  in  a  practice  of 
some  ten  years  there,  in  association,  and  in  conflict  with 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  61 

lawyers  of  acknowledged  ability,  won  distinction,  and 
established  a  high  reputation.  He  was  still  young  when 
he  removed  to  this  State,  and  commenced  practice  here, 
where  he  soon  became  eminent.  But  little  time  elapsed 
till  he  took  a  commanding  position  in  the  foremost  rank 
of  a  bar  composed  of  men  of  much  more  than  ordinary 
talents  and  attainments,  and  by  universal  consent,  main- 
tained it  to  the  close  of  his  professional  life. 

Younger  men,  who  afterwards  attained  great  distinc- 
tion at  the  bar,  and  have  done  honor  to  the  State,  at 
least  one  of  whom  still  remains  with  us,  had  their  train- 
ing in  his  office  and  under  his  instruction.  Among  others 
who  had  the  benefit  of  his  association,  example  and 
instruction,  was  the  lamented  Lincoln,  who  afterwards 
became  so  illustrious  in  the  history  of  our  country,  and 
before  the  world,  and  whose  memory  is  enshrined  in  all 
our  hearts. 

As  his  law  partner.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  long  and  intimately 
associated  with  Judge  Logan,  and,  no  doubt,  during  that 
period,  received  much  of  the  preparation  which  fitted 
him  for  the  brilliant  and  useful  career  which  awaited 
him,  and  which  enabled  him  to  achieve  immortal  renown 
as  a  patriot  and  statesman.  Mr.  Lincoln  at  one  time 
exerted  all  his  influence,  which  was  not  then  so  great 
as  it  afterwards  became,  to  have  his  friend  and  former 
partner  placed  upon  the  bench  of  a  Federal  Court. 

For  such  a  station  he  was  most  eminently  qualified, 
and  had  he  held  the  position,  he  could  not  have  failed  to 
add  to  the  exalted  reputation  of  the  American  judiciary. 

I  know  that  Mr.  Lincoln  then  regarded  Judge  Logan 
as  the  most  thorough  and  accomplished  lawyer  he  had 
ever  known,  and  through  his  whole  life,  he  cherished 
for  him  an  affection,  admiration  and  respect  which 
approached  to  reverence  and  adoration. 


62  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

Had  his  ambition  taken  the  direction  of  politics  and 
puLKc  al5^airs,  his  remarkable  abilities  leave  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  he  would  have  become  as  distinguished  as  a 
statesman,  as  he  was  as  a  barrister  and  jurist. 

He  never  sought  public  position,  and  had  few  oppor- 
tunities of  demonstrating  his  aptitude  for  State  affairs  ; 
but  there  was  one  occasion  when  he  was  called  to 
participate  in  the  deliberations  of  a  body  which  had 
under  consideration  political  questions  of  the  greatest 
gravity,  complexity  and  importance  ;  questions  of  as  much 
magnitude  as  can  arise  out  of  the  tangled  web  of  individ- 
ual and  *  *  communal  interests  and  concerns,  and  he 
then  displayed  such  familiarity  with  municipal  and  inter- 
national law,  such  grasp  of  the  fundamental  principles 
and  maxims  upon  which  all  free  political  institutions 
must  be  built  and  maintained,  as  to  take  his  audience 
altogether  by  surprise,  and  to  win  the  profound  admira- 
tion of  the  strong,  notable  men  who  composed  it. 

The  "  Peace  Congress  "  which  assembled  in  Washing- 
ton City  early  in  1861,  before  the  unhappy  differences 
between  the  northern  and  southern  sections  of  the  country 
had  yet  culminated  in  war,  included  many  of  the  most 
eminent  jurists  and  statesmen  of  the  United  States. 

I  was  not  present,  and  had  not  the  pleasure  and  benefit 
of  hearing  Judge  Logan  on  that  occasion  ;  but,  after  the 
lapse  of  many  years,  and  after  the  southern  States  had 
been  devastated  by  a  war  which  that  Congress  strove  in 
vain  to  avert,  in  conversation  with  learned  and  able  men 
who  were  present  as  members  of  the  Congress,  I  have  been 
assured  that  the  sj)eech  he  then  delivered  was  remarkable 
for  its  wisdom,  its  patriotism,  its  conciliatory  tone  and 
temper,  its  forecast  of  the  future,  and  its  eloquence  and 
power ;  and  that  had  the  counsels  of  our  deceased  brother 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  63 

been  followed,  all  conflicting  opinions  and  interests  would  • 
have  been  reconciled,  and  the  country  have  escaped  the 
calamities  which  ensued. 

In  social  life  he  was  characterized  by  all  the  amenities 
of  a  gentle,  generous  and  kindly  nature.  His  conversa- 
tion was  always  interesting  and  instructive.  I  never  left 
his  society  without  carrying  away  with  me  something 
worthy  to  be  remembered,  and  without  feeling  that  my 
stock  of  useful  ideas  and  practical  knowledge  had  'been 
enlarged. 

His  moral  and  social  qualities  were  such  as  could  not 
fail  to  attract  observation,  and  to  exercise  an  influence 
for  good  upon  all  who  associated  with  him. 

It  is  said  that  "  the  purest  treasure  mortal  times  afford 
is  spotless  reputation,"  and  that  he  had. 

I  am  not  aware  that,  in  all  the  varied  scenes  of  life 
through  which  he  passed,  there  was  ever,  in  any  trans- 
action, or  under  any  cu'cumstances,  an  imputation  upon 
his  honor  and  integrity,  A  firm  believer  in  the  Christian 
religion,  he  exemplified  in  his  daily  walk  the  beauty,  sim- 
plicity, charity  and  beneficence  of  its  precepts,  and  looked 
forward,  with  serene  hope  and  undoubting  faith,  to  the 
promised  resurrection,  and  to  the  unfading  joys  of  a  new 
and  eternal  life. 

Gentleness  of  manners  and  demeanor,  unostentatious 
dignity,  an  exalted  sense  of  honor,  and  a  rigid  observance 
of  duty,  all  of  which  adorned  his  private  and  professional 
life,  conspired  to  make  him  a  fit  exemplar  for  the  young 
men  of  the  profession,  well  worthy  their  study  and  imita- 
tion. From  the  contemplation  of  such  a  character  they 
should  learn  more  reverance — not  for  rank  or  wealth — 
but  for  "  man  with  God's  image  stamped  upon  him,  and 
God's  kindling  breath  within." 


64  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

To  those  who  knew  him  as  a  friend,  and  had  the  privi- 
leges of  his  companionship,  and  enjoyed  the  pleasures  and 
advantages  of  his  genial,  intelligent  and  edifying  conver- 
sation, his  loss  is  a  personal  sorrow.  But  we  do  not 
mourn  for  him  as  for  the  young.  He  had  overpassed  the 
allotted  age  of  man,  and  the  time  had  come  when,  ui 
obedience  to  the  inexorable  demands  of  the  laws  of 
nature,  he  must  close  his  labors  here  and  pass  from  the 
confines  of  time  into  that  better  and  more  blessed  world, 
which  we  trust,  lies  beyond  the  boundaries  of  this.  He 
closed  his  pilgrimage  heie  under  conditions  exceptionally 
free  from  the  infirmities  of  age,  and  the  lingering  suffei  - 
ing  and  helplessness  which  often  precede  the  death  of  the 
old.  His  intellectual  faculties  gave  no  sign  of  decay,  and 
he  still  had  that  measure  of  physical  vigor  and  activity 
which  enabled  him  to  appreciate  and  enjoy  the  blessings 
which  surrounded  him. 

But  his  time  had  come.  His  record  is  honorably  closed. 
He  has  gone  before  us  under  as  favorable  and  pleasant 
circumstances  as  can  well  attend  upon  death,  and  it  only 
remains  for  us,  before  we  follow,  to  pay  this  last  sad 
tribute  to  his  memory. 

I  now,  if  the  court  please,  present  the  resolutions 
adopted  by  the  bar,  and  respectfully  ask  that  you  will  be 
pleased  to  order  them  to  be  spread  upon  the  records  of 
the  court. 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Browning's  eulogy,  the  Clerk, 
Mr.  E.  A.  Snively,  by  order  of  the  Court,  read  the  reso- 
lutions. 

The  venerable  Judge  Caton,  of  Ottawa,  next  addressed 
the  court,  and  paid  the  following  feeling  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  the  departed  barrister  and  jurist : 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T."  LOGAN.  65 

REMARKS  BY  HON.  JOHN  D.  CATON. 

May  it  Please  the  Court  :  I  was  not  aware  that  this 
solemn  and  mournful  announcement  was  to  be  made  here 
until  this  morning,  but  hope  that  I  will  not  interfere  with 
any  arrangement  which  may  have  been  made,  while  I 
pray  your  Honors  to  bear  with  me  for  a  few  moments  in 
order  that  I  may  express  my  approbation  of  what  has 
been  said  so  well  of  our  deceased  friend  and  brother.  It 
may  not  be  unfitting  that  I  should  speak  of  him,  because 
I  am  one  of  the  very  few  left  who  knew  him  in  a  very 
early  day.  I  Urst  met  the  deceased  at  the  Tazewell  Cir- 
cuit Court  in  1833,  now  nearly  48  years  ago.  I  met  him 
there  when  Judge  Lockwood  held  the  court,  and  there 
were  present  John  T.  Stuart,  John  J.  Hardin,  Dan  Stone 
and  Stephen  T.  Logan,  as  practicing  members  of  the 
bar.  From  that  time  until  the  time  of  his  death  I  claim 
to  have  known  him  well— and  a  fonder  claim — I  claimed 
him  as  my  friend.  I  practiced  with  him  at  the  bar,  I 
practiced  before  him  when  he  was  Circuit  Judge,  at  many 
cpurts.  I  listened  to  his  eloquence  and  to  his  arguments 
for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  when  I  was  occupying 
a  seat  upon  this  exalted  bench ;  since  then  I  have  often 
met  him,  and  but  two  years  since,  on  my  last  visit  to  this 
city,  I  went  out  to  his  residence  and  spent  an  hour  profit- 
ably and  pleasantly  with  him.  When  I  left  him  then  I 
feared  that  we  had  met  for  the  last  time  on  earth,  and 
now,  alas,  that  fear  has  been  realized.  Is  it  not  fitting, 
then,  that  I,  who  have  known  him  so  well  and  so  long, 
should  detain  you  for  a  few  moments  in  expressing  my 
appreciation  of  one  who  has  left  so  profound  a  mark  not 
only  upon  the  jurisprudence  of  this  State,  but  upon  all 
her  institutions — has  left  a  mark  which  only  an  able  and 
a  good  man  could  leave "? 
— 5 


66  memoirs' OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

Ks  a  lawyer,  associated  with  him  at  the  bar,  I  ever  found 
him  a  man  of  the  highest  integrity,  of  tiie  profomidest 
research,  and  the  acutest  penetration.  As  a  judge  upon 
the  bench,  I  never  met  his  superior  in  the  administration 
of  the  laws  at  nisi  prius.  No  sophistry,  no  ingenuity,  no 
persuasion  could  tempt  him  for  a  moment  from  that  star 
of  justice  which  ever  shone  brightly  into  his  eye.  He 
swept  away  sophistry  like  a  cobweb,  and  struck  the 
center  of  justice  whenever  he  made  a  decision.  As  an 
adviser  of  this  court  I  ever  felt  my  indebtedness  to  him. 
By  both  his  precept  and  his  example  he  has  left  a  deep 
impress,  not  only  upon  the  judiciary  of  the  State,  but 
upon  the  profession  at  large.  He  has  taught  those  who 
come  after  him  to  bear  their  parts  well  and  nobly  in  the 
discharge  of  their  professional  duties,  and  they  can  look 
to  no  brighter  light  for  a  guidance  in  the  pathway  to  honor 
and  to  usefulness.  It  has  been  justly  said  by  the  gentle- 
man who  has  preceded  me  that  his  learning  was  the 
philosophy  of  the  law.  He  depended  not  so  much  upon 
the  particular  decision  applicable  to  his  case  as  upon 
the  reason  of  the  law  sustaining  his  position.  He  has 
been  called  eloquent.  He  was,  sir— he  was  eloquent  in 
his  own  way.  He  adorned  not  his  addresses  with  tinsel 
glitter  or  flagrant  flowers  of  speech,  but  with  an  earnest 
reasoning  and  flow  of  words  that  I  have  rarely  or  never 
heard  paralleled.  I  have  sat  upon  that  bench  for  an 
hour  and  a  half  listening  to  him,  as  I  recollect  upon  one 
occasion,  without  appreciating  that  he  had  been  talking 
ten  minutes.  It  was  a  continuous  gush  of  reason  and 
flow  of  argument,  with  every  word  so  perfectly  selected, 
every  sentence  so  complete,  every  thought  so  well  matured 
that.  I  forgot  the  passage  of  time,  and  was  convinced 
without  hesitation  of  the  fairness  of  his  reasoning. 


MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  67 

He,  too,  had  to  be  convinced  of  the  justice — at  least  he 
had  to  be  persuaded  that  he  was  not  advocating  injustice 
— before  he  raised  his  voice  in  support  of  a  cause,  but  that 
cause,  when  once  espoused,  he  pursued  with  relentless 
energy.  I  recollect  once  when  he  was  engaged  with  his 
partner,  Mr.  Lincoln,  at  the  time  they  were  partners,  in 
the  argument  of  a  cause  before  this  court,  I  happened  to 
meet  him  and  inquired,  while  Mr.  Lincoln  was  making 
his  address,  if  he  proposed  to  argue  the  case.  "  I  don't 
think  I  shall  trouble  you,"  he  said.  "  I  don't  see  it  as 
clear  as  Mr.  Lincoln  does  .  I  prefer  to  leave  it  with  him." 
I  confess  I  appreciated  the  compliment,  that  he  thought 
an  intimation  from  him  that  he  did  not  believe  that  his 
associate  was  right  would  not  affect  my  judgment — I  say 
I  appreciated  it  as  a  very  high  compliment.  But  it 
happened  that  the  cause  was  decided  as  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
argued  it. 

I  will  not  detain  you,  but  I  could  not  in  silence  let  this 
solemn  occasion  pass  without  bearing  my  testimony  to 
the  worth  and  to  the  learning  of  Stephen  T.  Logan,  as  a 
member  of  this  bar,  as  once  a  member  of  the  judiciary 
of  the  State,  as  a  citizen  of  the  commonwealth,  and  as  a 
friend.  I  feel  his  loss  the  more  because  of  those  few  I 
have  named  as  those  whom  I  first  met  in  company  with 
the  deceased,  but  one  besides  myself  is  now  alive,  and  it 
may  well  seem  exceptional  that  after  nearly  fifty  years 
even  two  out  of  five  or  six  should  be  left  to  recall  the 
incident. 

I  must  beg  the  pardon  of  the  court  for  having  thus,  as 
a  friend,  interrupted  their  proceedings  to  express  my 
regard  for  the  departed,  but  I  am  sure  the  solemnity  of 
the  occasion  will  excuse  me. 


68  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

Mr.  Justice  Scott,  from  the  bench,  responded  as  follows  : 

JUDGE  JOHN  M.  SCOTT's  REMARKS. 

It  would  hardly  be  appropriate  for  me  from  this  bench 
and  on  this  occasion  to  enter  upon  an  extended  analysis 
of  the  character  of  Judge  Logan  as  a  lawyer  or  citizen, 
and  I  shall  not  essay  to  do  so.  But  having  been  honored 
with  his  friendship,  I  may  be  excused  for  bringing  my 
poor  tribute  to  cast  in  with  the  beautiful  offerings  others 
have  brought  to  his  memory. 

As  you  all  know,  he  lived  through  a  period  covering 
more  than  three-fourths  of  the  nineteenth  century — a 
century  that  abounds  in  the  activities  of  life,  in  useful 
inventions,  in  literature  and  science,  and  all  that  tends 
to  refine  and  elevate  our  race  more  than  any  that  has 
gone  before.  It  is  the  men  of  the  period  that  have  made 
the  century  notable  for  this  unexampled  progress  in  all 
that  makes  the  happiness  of  the  world.  During  the 
formation  period  of  our  history  as  a  State  he  dwelt 
among  us,  and  it  is  but  just  to  his  memory  to  say,  he  left 
the  impress  of  his  character  in  some  degree  upon  our 
institutions,  and  that  they  are  better  and  purer  for  what 
they  received  from  him.  His  name  will  be  honorably 
associated  in  history  with  those  who  have  done  most  for 
their  State  and  country. 

Great  as  were  the  legal  attainments  of  Judge  Logan,  if 
that  were  all  that  distinguished  him,  his  name  would 
soon  cease  to  be  spoken.  The  labors  of  the  lawyer  that 
make  him  known  to  the  public  are  connected  mostly  with 
the  business  of  the  passing  hour,  and  when  the  recollec- 
tion of  that  ceases,  the  lawyer,  however  great  in  his 
profession,  is  no  longer  remembered.  No  matter  what 
reputation  they  may  have  borne  during  their  lives,  emi- 
nent lawyers  and  judges  who  have  blessed  the  world  by 


MEMOIES  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  69 

the  salutary  principles  they  have  assisted  to  maintain  for 
the  better  security  of  society,  life  and  property,  although 
their  memories  may  be  written  on  enduring  records,  are 
only  remembered  by  the  profession,  and  are  forgotten  by 
the  multitude  in  whose  behalf  they  labored.  The  legal 
profession  itself  opens  up  but  few  channels  to  popular 
renown,  nor  does  it  afford  much  that  attracts  and  retains 
permanently  public  attention.  The  man  who  devotes  his 
exclusive  attention  to  the  jurisprudence  of  his  country 
and  the  practice  of  its  laws,  need  not  expect  his  name 
will  be  long  remembered  in  history.  It  is  a  singular  fact 
that  he  who  adds  most  to  the  happiness  of  mankind  by 
silent  forces  and  influences,  is  soonest  forgotten.  War 
is  a  destructive  force,  and  yet  those  that  become  distin- 
guished in  it  are  always  the  most  prominent  characters 
in  history.  But  it  is  of  those  in  private  life  who  do  most 
for  mankind,  of  whom  it  may  be  said  "  their  works  do 
follow  them;"  though  their  names  are  seldom  heard  on 
the  tongues  of  men,  yet  the  force  they  set  in  motion  will 
continue  to  add  to  human  happiness  and  make  the  world 
better  and  purer  for  having  lived  in  it.  He  whose  memory 
we  now  honor  will  be  no  exception  to  the  general  rule. 
His  fame  as  a  lawyer,  like  that  of  other  distinguished 
jurists,  may  be,  and  doubtless  will  be,  soon  forgotten  by 
all  save  a  few  surviving  professional  brethren,  but  the 
influence  of  his  labors  on  the  jurisprudence  of  our  State 
will  live  always,  and  will  be  felt  long  after  the  personal 
destiny  of  those  composing  this  presence  shall  have  been 
written  and  become  history. 

But  in  his  private  character  as  a  citizen  and  friend, 
Judge  Logan  will  be  long  remembered,  and  there  are 
those  present  who  will  remember  him  as  long  as  life  exists, 
and  who  will  ever  bear  with  them  recollections  of  his 
kindly  life.     It  would  be  a  poor  tribute  to  his  character 


70  MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

to  affirm  he  was  honest  in  monetary  matters.  He  was 
all  that,  and  what  is  far  higher  and  nobler,  he  was  honest 
in  his  friendship  and  in  all  his  relations  of  life.  He  was 
as  outspoken  for  good  as  he  was  indignant  at  wrong,  and 
these  qualities  arose  out  of  a  character  made  up  of  ster- 
ling virtues,  and  adorned  by  the  beautiful  graces  of  a 
Christian  life.  It  is  written,  "  Mark  the  perfect  man,  and 
behold  the  upright :  for  the  end  of  that  man  is  peace." 

On  occasions  like  this  "  all  the  burial  places  of  the 
memory  give  up  their  dead,"  and  what  a  cloud  of  recollec- 
tions come  to  us  who  are  advanced  in  life.  Visions  of 
the  past  appear.  Looking  back  through  the  years, 
memory  reproduces  all  that  has  transpired.  The  com- 
panions of  our  early  days,  those  who  commenced  life 
with  us,  stand  around  us  again.  We  look  upon  their 
forms  once  more  and  feel  again  the  gentle  pressure  of  the 
hand  manifesting  mutual  affection  and  confidence,  and 
we  hear  again 

"Sweet  voices  we  heard  in  the  days  gone  before." 

But,  alas,  it  is  but  memory,  and  we  are  sad  because 
they  are  not. 

Life  at  most  is  but  a  brief  existence.  "  It  is  even  a 
vapor,  that  appeareth  for  a  little  time  and  then  vanisheth 
away."  Often  the  plaintive  words  of  the  choric  song  of 
the  lotus-eaters  occur  to  us : 

' '  Let  us  alone,  Time  driveth  onward  fast, 
And  in  a  little  while  our  lips  are  dumb. 
Let  us  alone.     What  is  it  that  will  last  V 

Philosophically,  we  know  nothing  that  has  form  and 
substance  endures.  Mutation  and  change  appear  every- 
where. Things  we  prize  as  our  most  precious  jewels 
perish  from  our  grasp.  All  that  is  beautiful,  in  whatever 
form  it  may  exist, 

"Is  the  ivy's  food  at  last." 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  71 

And  is  there  nothing,  then,  that  lasts  ?  Yes,  there  is 
something  that  lasts.  It  is  the  good  done  by  men.  It  is 
the  influence  of  all  nobly  done  that  lives  through  the  ages. 

"And  when  thou  stand'st  for  judgment  on  thine  own, 
The  deed  shall  shine  beside  thee  as  an  angel." 

In  his  life-work,  Judge  Logan  will  live  so  long  as  the 
beautiful  and  pure  in  character  is  held  in  esteem.  Life 
with  him  consisted — 

•'Of  plain  devotedness  to  duty, 

Steadfast  and  still,  nor  paid  with  mortal  praise  ; 

But  finding  amplest  recompense 

In  work  done  squarely  and  unwasted  days. 

For  this  we  honor  him." 

In  ordering  the  spreading  of  the  resolutions  of  the  bar 
upon  the  records  of  the  court,  the  Chief  Justice,  T.  Lyle 
Dickey,  thus  fittingly  responded  to  the  sentiments  uttered 
by  the  other  speakers : 

'  CHIEF  JUSTICE  DICKEY's  RESPONSE. 

The  court  concurs  in  the  sentiments  contained  in  the 
resolutions  presented,  and  in  the  thoughts  so  eloquently 
expressed  by  Mr.  Browning  in  their  presentation. 

The  distinguished  man  to  whose  memory  this  tribute  is 
rendered,  was  known  to  and  honored  by  every  member  of 
this  tribunal. 

More  than  forty  years  ago  Stephen  T.  Logan  occupied 
a  seat  upon  the  bench  as  one  of  the  Circuit  Judges  in  this 
State.  His  colleagues  of  that  day,  Richard  M.  Young, 
Sidney  Breese,  Thomas  Ford,  Justin  Harlan,  and  Henry 
Eddy,  after  lives  of  usefulness  and  distinction,  have  all 
gone  hence. 

It  was  while  in  the  discharge  of  his  judicial  functions 
that  I  first  saw  Judge  Logan,  and  the  impression  then 
made  upon  my  mind  of  his  marked  ability  has  never  been 


72  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAM . 

effaced.  His  preeminent  distinction,  however,  was  as  a 
practicing  lawyer.  He  seemed  so  thoroughly  possessed 
of  the  fundamental  principles  and  peculiar  philosophy  of 
the  common  law,  that  he  was  ever  ready  to  state  at  once 
with  precision  and  accuracy  the  rule  of  law  and  the  reason 
for  the  rule,  and  to  define  the  limitations  and  exceptions 
to  the  rule,  with  the  reason  for  the  limitation  or  exception. 

The  legal  proposition  seemed  to  be  developed  and  pro- 
duced in  his  mind,  rather  from  a  knowledge  of  the 
principles  of  law  than  from  the  memory  of  its  statement 
by  any  author  or  jurist.  The  common  law,  in  his  hands, 
never  seemed  a  conglomeration  of  artificial,  discordant, 
and  merely  technical  rules,  but  with  all  its  ramifications, 
to  form  a  full,  complete  and  beautiful  integer,  composed 
of  an  infinitude  of  parts,  consistent  and  harmonious,  all 
founded  in  reason  and  aimed  at  even  handed  justice. 

With  a  single  exception,  among  all  the  lawyers  of  my 
acquaintance,  in  this  respect,  he  had  no  peer.  For  many 
years  Cyrus  Walker  divided  with  Logan  the  honors  of 
leadership  in  the  contests  of  the  forum,  and  like  him, 
seemed  never  at  a  loss  for  the  rule  of  law  or  the  reason  on 
which  it  rested.  They  came  to  Illinois  from  the  same 
part  of  Kentucky,  and  about  the  same  time.  Both,  before 
coming  to  this  State,  had  won  reputation  and  acquired  a 
competence.  Both  came  here  with  the  intention  of  retir- 
ing substantially  from  the  practice.  But  so  marked  were 
their  capabilities,  that  engaging  in  one  case  created  a 
demand  for  their  services  in  others  so  imperative,  that, 
fortunately,  they  both  felt  themselves  constrained  to 
yield.  My  first  acquaintance  with  these  great  lawyers 
began  about  the  same  time.  This,  with  the  similarity  in 
many  respects,  in  their  lives,  their  methods  and  their 
qualities,  has   ever  kept  them  associated  in  my  mind. 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  73 

Walker  closed  his  labors  of  life  about  five  years  ago. 
Logan  is  now  gone.  They  were  both  true  men,  useful 
and  noble. 

Logan's  style  of  speaking  was  earnest,  vigorous  and 
direct.  His  articulation  was  very  distinct.  His  voice 
was  penetrating,  and  though  at  times  somewhat  shrill 
when  pitched  upon  its  highest  key,  it  usually  had  a  musi- 
cal ring  which  was  attractive  and  pleasing.  He  used  few 
illustrations,  indulged  in  no  ornament,  and  wasted  no 
words.  He  came  at  once  to  his  point,  and  riveted  the 
attention  of  his  audience.  Earely  pathetic,  he  was  often 
persuasive  and  sometimes  impassioned.  His  analysis 
was  incisive  and  his  reasoning  logical  and  convincing. 
His  mind  was  both  comprehensive  and  discriminative. 
His  conceptions  were  clear,  his  words  simple  and  per- 
spicuous. His  diction  was  exceedingly  happy.  Other 
men  describe  their  thoughts  ;  Logan  expressed  his.  His 
perceptions  were  ready  and  acute.  Nothing  escaped  his 
observation.  He  seemed  always  equal  to  the  occasion ; 
and  however  vast  his  subject,  he  seemed  to  grasp  it  in  its 
entirety,  and  with  a  master  hand  to  hold  it  plainly  before 
his  listeners,  and  to  deal  with  its  respective  parts  at  will. 

The  late  Justice  McLean,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  who  had  a  wide  acquaintance  with  men 
and  affairs,  and  a  large  judicial  experience,  often  said 
Judge  Logan  was  the  ablest  nisi  inius  lawyer  he  had  ever 
known.  To  those  who  have  not  only  listened  to  the  resist- 
less arguments  with  which  Logan  sustained  his  positions, 
but  have  also  observed  the  consummate  skill  and  ever 
ready  sagacity  which  marked  his  every  step  in  the  pro- 
gress of  a.  trial,  this  commendation  may  well  be  regarded 
as  fully  deserved. 

Allusion  has  justly  been  made  to  the  purity  of  his  pri- 
vate life.    Fame  is  in  its  value  ephemeral ;  but  the  virtue 


74  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

which  forms  the  basis  of  exalted  character  is  eternal.  The 
one  is  subject  to  the  limitations  of  time ;  the  other  is 
immortal.  This  reflection  is  consolatory,  and  is  applica- 
ble to  the  fullest  extent  to  this  honored  magistrate, 
distinguished  lawyer,  useful  citizen  and  pure  man.  His 
memory  will  ever  be  green  with  those  who  have  known 
him,  and,  so  far  as  human  memorials  can  be  effective  to 
that  end,  it  ought  to  be  perpetuated  for  the  benefit  of 
those  who  come  after  us. 

The  resolutions  will  be  spread  upon  the  records,  and, 
as  a  further  mark  of  respect  the  court  will  now  adjourn. 


MEMOIES  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  75 


PRESS  AND  OTHER  OBITUARY  NOTICES 

OF 

Stephen  T.  Logan. 


THE  subjoined  extract  from  an  obituary  of  Judge  Logan, 
in  the  Illinois  State  Journal,  July  19,  1880,  is  from 
the  pen  of  one  who  long  sustained  intimate  personal 
relations  to  the  Judge,  and  thus  had  ample  opportunity 
to  form  a  correct  estimate  of  his  character  and  senti- 
ments : 

AS   A   LAWYER. 

It  was  in  his  professional  character,  undoubtedly,  that 
Judge  Logan  shone  preeminent.  There,  it  may  be  fitly 
said,  he  walked  the  boards  without  a  rival.  There  were 
great  men  and  great  lawyers  who  were  contemporary  with 
him,  and  whose  names  are  usually  associated  with  his, 
as  forming  the  great  legal  lights  of  the  earlier  days  of 
our  State  bar.  With  many  of  these  it  will  be  recognized 
that  their  reputations  were  of  political  rather  than  pro- 
fessional origin.  There  were  none  of  them  who  did  not 
willingly  give  the  precedence  to  Judge  Logan  as  a  lawyer. 
It  was  a  peculiar  fact  connected  with  his  professional 
reputation,  that,  although  it  was  fully  recognized  by  all 
classes,  the  unprofessional  as  well  as  the  professional, 


76  '  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

yet  it  was  always  highest  with  those  who  were  the  best 
judges.  With  the  judges  and  lawyers  it  was  .that  his 
character  as  a  lawyer  stood  uppermost.  Judge  McLean, 
of  the  United  States  Court,  and  who  had  traveled  over 
many  States  of  the  Union,  holding  Courts  of  the  United 
States,  said  of  Logan:  "That  he  was  the  best  nisi prius 
lawyer  that  ever  practiced  before  him,"  and  other  high 
Judges  have  given  expression  to  their  estimate  of  his 
legal  abilities  quite  as  high.  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  speaking 
of  the  clearness  and  power  with  which  Judge  Logan 
could  state  and  argue  a  proposition,  said  of  him :  "That 
he  could  make  a  nice  distinction  in  the  law,  or  uj^on  the 
facts,  more  palpable  to  the  common  understanding,  than 
any  lawyer  he  ever  knew."  But  it  was  that  ready  per- 
ception of  the  true  legal  principles  applying  to  any  given 
state  of  facts,  as  they  might  be  stated  to  him,  or  as  they 
might  arise  upon  the  evidence  in  the  courts,  however 
complicated  these  might  be,  and  the  clearness  with 
which  he  could  solve  any  difficulty,  in  the  way  of  their 
application  to  the  case  in  hand,  that  gave  Judge  Logan 
his  greatest  power  as  a  lawyer.  In  his  addresses  to 
juries,  he  was  always  earnest,  and  sometimes  vehement, 
in  manner  and  expression,  but  endeavored  always,  if 
the  nature  of  the  case  would  possibly  permit  it,  to  appeal 
rather  to  their  understanding,  than  their  feelings  or  preju- 
dices. Courts  listened  to  him  readily,  because  they  were 
sure  their  time  would  not  be  consumed  by  the  discussion 
of  irrelevant  matters.  Perceiving  readily  the  material 
points  of  his  case,  he  would  at  once,  without  circumlocu- 
tion, proceed  to  discuss  them.  Courts  were  sure  that  time 
was  not  unnecessarily  consumed  when  he  addressed  them. 

AS   A   MAN    AND   CITIZEN 

the  character  of  Judge  Logan  was  above  reproach.  By 
the  industrious  exercise  of  his  high  professional  abilities, 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  77 

united  with  sound  judgment,  as  to  the  investment  of  his 
earnings,  he  had  many  years  before  his  death  acquired 
what,  according  to  his  moderate  standard,  was  a  com- 
petency for  his  family.  His  habits  of  hfe  were  simple 
and  economical,  and  for  himself  he  required  but  little  ; 
but  all  the  affections  of  his  heart  were  centered  on  his 
family,  and  he  had  worked  for  them,  not  for  himself. 
He  had  just  notions,  however,  of  life,  and  understood  full 
well  that  wealth  did  not  give  happiness,  and  that  beyond 
a  mere  competency  to  protect  against' the  vicissitudes  of 
life,  it  was  evil  rather  than  good.  To  this  end,  many 
years  ago,  he  closed  active  business  investments  and 
transactions,  and  with  great  cheerfulness  began  to  dis- 
tribute his  property  to  his  children,  reserving  to  himself 
enough  only  for  his  own  wants.  Although  economical 
and  careful  in  his  business  habits,  he  was  just  and  liberal 
in  his  business  engagements— a  liberal  landlord  and  an 
indulgent  creditor.  He  was  the  kindest  of  husbands  and 
the  most  affectionate  of  fathers.  He  lived  the  most  of 
his  life  in  his  family ;  denying  to  himself  everything,  to 
his  family  he  denied  nothing. 

Judge  Logan  was  not  united  with  any  church  organiza- 
tion, but  he  was  a  constant  and  diligent  reader  of  the 
Bible,  and  had  no  patience,  scarcely  charity,  for  those 
who  are  engaged  in  propagating  infidelity. 

In  its  issue  of  the  same  date,  the  Journal  contained  the 
following  editorial  notice  of  the  dead  jurist : 

THE  LATE  JUDGE  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

•The  Journal  of  Saturday  morning  announced  another 
breach  in  the  ranks  of  the  older  citizens  of  Springfield, 
in  the  death  of  the  Hon.  Stephen  T.  Logan,  in  the  81st 
year  of  his  age.      Beginning  life  with   the  dawn  of  the 


78  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

present  century,  in  a  State  which  gave  to  Illinois  a  Lin- 
coln, a  Hardin,  an  Edwards,  and  scores  of  its  prominent 
statesmen,  in  a  period  of  nearly  fifty  years  spent  in  this 
State,  Judge  Logan  had  established  a  reputation  in  his 
peculiar  sphere  not  second  to  any  of  his  distinguished 
compeers.  Undoubtedly,  his  true  sphere  was  that  of  a 
successful  lawyer,  and  in  that  his  brilliance  and  excel- 
lence were  recognized  and  conceded  throughout  the  whole 
State.  Often  the  assistant  and  colleague  of  Lincoln,  the 
cause  which  they  supported  was  certain  to  be  presented 
in  the  strongest  possible  light.  If,  however,  the  fortunes 
of  their  profession  placed  them  on  opposing  sides,  the 
struggle  was  certain  to  be  a  sharp  one,  and  it  never  failed 
to  interest  the  whole  community,  though  it  never  dis- 
turbed the  harmonious  personal  relations  which  continued 
to  subsist  between  these  two  disting-uished  men  through- 
out their  whole  lives. 

Judge  Logan  possessed  a  subtle,  analytic  mind,  which 
fitted  him  in  an  eminent  degree  for  a  profession  which 
depended  for  its  greatest  successes  on  influencing  the 
minds  of  others.  Powerfully  logical,  he  could,  at  times, 
be  as  powerful  in  pathos,  as  the  traditions  of  the  Sanga- 
mon County  Bar  abundantly  prove.  It  was  his  peculiar 
fitness  to  shine  here,  no  doubt,  which  restricted  his  public 
life  chiefly  to  the  domain  of  the  forum  and  the  halls  of 
legislation,  though  his  reputation,  and  the  high  estima- 
tion in  which  he  was  held  throughout  the  Nation,  would 
have  fitted  him  successfully  to  aspire  to,  and  fill,  any 
position  within  the  gift  of  the  people.  Endowed  with 
a  wiry,  physical  organization,  in  middle  life  he  accom- 
plished what  few  men  of  his  time  were  capable  of — 
looking  after  an  extensive  and  rapidly  increasing  practice. 


MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  79 

scattered  over  a  large  circuit,  playing  the  part  of  editor 
of  the  local  paper,  delivering  political  speeches,  and 
caring  for  his  business  interests. 

Politically,  Judge  Logan,  from  early  training  and  taste, 
had  strong  tendencies  towards  conservatism.  A  Whig  in 
his  early  life,  on  the  organization  of  the  Republican 
party  he  became  identified  with  the  latter.  In  1861  he 
was,  with  Gen.  Palmer,  of  this  State,  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  well-meant  but  unsuccessful  Peace  Congress. 
Like  many  others,  he  was  puzzled  by  the  question  of 
Reconstruction,  precipitated  upon  the  country  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  for  a  time  was  claimed  to  be  in  har- 
mony with  the  Democratic  party,  but  of  late  years  has 
been  pronounced  and  unswerving  in  his  RepuMicanism. 

For  several  years  past,  having  withdrawn  from  his 
profession  on  account  of  the  advancing  infirmities  of  age, 
Judge  Logan  has  lived  in  virtual  retirement,  enjoying  the 
respect  of  a  large  circle  of  friends,  in  the  city  and  the 
State,  with  whose  history  he  has  been  so  closely  identified 
for  nearly  half  a  century. 

The  Springfield  Monitor,  in  its  issue  of  July  19th,  pub- 
lished this  generous  tribute : 

THE  monitor's  EULOGY. 

INMEMORIAM. 

''The  purest  treasure  mortal  times  afford, 
Is  spotless  reputation, — that  away, 
Men  are  but  gilded  loam,  or  painted  clay." 

"Though  old,  he  still  retained. 
His  manly  sense  and  energy  of  mind. 
Virtuous  and  wise  he  was,  but  not  severe, 
He  still  remembered  that  he  once  was  young." 

It  is  no  ordinary  personage  whom  the  people  of  his 
loved  home  in  Springfield  are  called  upon  to  entomb 


80  MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

to  day.  He  was  a  giant  among  the  great  men;  a  stal- 
wart amidst  the  intellectual.  One  of  the  remarkable  men 
of  his  time  has  just  closed  his  day  in  life's  court.  His 
name  adorns  history ;  he  has  left  the  indelible  imprint  of 
his  genius  on  the  jurisprudence  of  the  State,  and  his 
name  will  go  down  to  posterity  as  among  the  wisest  and 
most  prudent  of  the  great  minds  in  the  list  of  her  legis- 
lators. It  is  such  an  one  for  whom  those  he  recognized 
in  life  as  "  men  and  brethren  "  are  called  upon  to-day  to 
perform  the  "last  sad  rites,"  as  they  bow  in  reverential 
respect  around  his  grave.  The  great  and  loved  of  the 
Nation,  who  once  loved  him  as  a  brother;  jurists  and 
governors,  men  of  great  worth  and  distinction,  are  buried 
in  the  same  ground,  are  shadowed  by  the  sanie  trees, 
entombed  on  the  same  hillsides,  watched  and  caroled 
over  by  the  same  warbling  songsters  of  the  forest ;  their 
mounded  resting  places  and  rising  monuments  are  per- 
fumed by  the  same  fragrant  flowers,  fanned  by  the  same 
gentle  zephyrs  floating  through  the  shrubbery  planted  by 
the  hand  of  affection,  which  awaits  the  cherished 
remains  of  our  former  fellow- citizen.  But  around  none 
of  all  these  will  cling  more  fond  memories,  more  rever- 
ence for  great  mental  ability,  than  will  wreath  the  name 
of  the  distinguished  lawyer,  wise  jurist,  and  grand  old 
citizen.  Judge  Stephen  T.  Logan,  of  whom  it  might  well 
be  said — 

' '  Low  in  stature,  bent  like  a  bow, 

But  with  an  intellect  reaching  the  heavens." 

Moral  worth,  intellectual  strength,  purity  of  purpose, 
and  domestic  goodness,  gave  the  grand  characteristics 
which  distinguished  Judge  Logan,  and  blended  the  "iron 
armed  Kichard  of  the  bar,"  when  among  the  learned  in 
the  law,  with  the  devotedly  loyal  husband,  the  philan- 
thropic neighbor,  true   friend  and  citizen,  knowing  no 


MEMOIRS  OP  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  81 

guile  or  shadow  of  turning,  when  love,  duty,  obedience  to 
law,  regard  for  constitutional  liberty  and  patriotic 
ipmulse,  demanded  his  allegiance.  He  lies  now  in  the 
cold  embrace  of  the  common  enemy  of  our  race.  Those 
bound  to  him  through  filial  love  are  saddened  at  the 
severance,  and  the  fountain  of  human  affections  is  broken, 
up  in  the  household  but  a  few  days  since  felicitous, 
because  of  his  venerable  presence. 

As  sorrow  palls  his  former  home,  and  the  tears  well  up 
as  the  glistening  tell-tales  of  bereavement  in  the  portals 
of  souls  aliin  to  his  own  by  the  welded  links  of  love,  his 
neighbors  and  friends — those  who  have  measured  swords 
with  him  in  the  legal  arena,  and  have  been  connected  with 
him  in  his  long  and  useful  career  in  the  various  relations 
of  life — will  wend  their  way  to  the  side  of  his  bier  to 
mingle  with  his  loved  ones  the  tears  of  sympathy,  and 
console  them  with  the  exhibition  which  reverent  respect 
entertained  for  their  loved  dead. 

No  more  will  his  eloquent  voice  be  heard  reverberating 
through  the  halls  of  justice  convincingly  electrifying 
judges  on  the  bench,  while  riveting  the  attentive  admira- 
tion of  the  members  of  the  profession,  by  whom  he  was 
honored,  and  who  were  honored  by  him  in  return.  The 
music  of  his  voice  has  died  away,  only  to  be  reechoed  in 
memory,  when  his  remembered  forensic  efforts  recall 
the  times  when  he  held  them  spell-bound,  or  piloted  them 
through  legal  channels  to  the  solution  of  a  vexed  question 
of  law,  or  when  harmonizing  conflicting  evidence  by  his 
incontrovertible  reasoning  and  argument,  which  placed 
him  before  them  as  the  peer  of  all,  excelled  by  none. 

His  friends  in  life,  those  who  loved  and  honored  him 
for  his  great  worth  as  a  man,  will  gather  to-day  to  lower 

—6 


82  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOOAN. 

his  form  to  its  earthly  resting  place  after  his  work  so 
well  done,  and 

"His  days  have  glided  o'er  his  head, 

Made  up  of  innocence  and  love, 
And  soft  and  silent  as  the  shade, 

His  nightly  moments  moved." 

His  days  have  ended  well ;  he  has  borne  the  fruit  of  a 
well-spent  life,  and  death  had  no  fears  for  him,  nor  the 
grave  any  terrors.  He  recognized  fully  the  wise  economy 
of  nature,  which  provides  a  rest  in  the  grave  for  the 
weary  casket,  while  the  soul  wings  its  way  back  to  the 
God  who  first  breathed  it  into  man,  and  he  became  a 
living,  moving  intelligence. 

Judge  Stephen  T.  Logan  was  a  native  of  Franklin 
county,  Kentucky,  and  being  possessed  of  immense  brain- 
power even  in  youth,  was  never  behind,  but  always  in  the 
van  when  mental  qualities  were  demanded.  He  was 
early  in  life  found  performing  the  duties  of  a  Deputy 
Secretary  of  State  on  his  native  heath.  He  mastered 
the  intricacies  of  the  law,  arose  to  prominence  in  his 
profession,  and  his  active  years  were  only  a  succession 
of  brilliant  achievements,  which  made  him  the  master 
mind  among  the  legal  fraternity,  and  a  jurist  of  exalted 
repute.  His  domestic  qualities  were  preeminent.  His 
home  was  his  heaven,  his  wife  and  children  the  objects  of 
a  devoted  attachment,  and  their  wish  his  absorbing  care 
and  greatest  pleasure.  His  public  services  were  charac- 
terized by  ability,  honor  and  deep  devotion.  His  eighty 
years  were  not  wasted  to  the  world,  but  as  an  exemplar 
in  industry  he  labored,  and  labored  hard,  to  reach  the 
great  aim  of  his  life.  He  sinks  to  the  grave  with  the 
plaudits  of  his  countrymen.  "Well  done,  good  and 
faithful." 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  83 

The  name  of  Stephen  T.  Logan  is  familiar  to  every 
prominent  man  in  the  State,  The  impress  of  his  char- 
acter can  be  found  on  many  of  the  wisest  measures  in 
our  legislation,  while  his  name  was  a  household  word 
among  his  professional  brethren  from  the  prominence  of 
his  name  among  the  reports  of  our  record  of  courts,  and 
its  ascendency  in  the  galaxy  of  distinguished  jurists. 
He  has  filled  the  position  of  legislator  and  judge  with 
honor  to  himself  and  the  State.  He  was  respected 
wherever  known  for  his  opinions,  and  was  the  recipient 
of  the  distinguished  honor  of  being  called  from  private 
life  to  the  council  of  the  nation  convened  by  the  immortal 
Lincoln,  when  the  dark  cloud  of  war  threatened  to  dis- 
rupt the  Union.  The  proudest  page  in  his  life's  history 
is  that  which  records  his  great  effort  for  a  peaceable  set- 
tlement of  our  troubles,  rather  than  a  resort  to  the 
dangerous  experiment  of  an  arbitrament  by  the  sword. 
He  was  a  great  and  good  man,  who  preferred  the  private 
walks  of  life  to  the  trials  and  turmoils  and  glittering 
blaze  of  a  public  career,  although  endowed  with  a  mind 
which  could  have  directed  the  destiny  of  a  nation  or 
encompass  the  most  intricate  question  of  government. 

Peace  to  the  grand  old  citizen's  honored  ashes !  He 
hath  drawn 

"The  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams." 

FROM   THE    ILLINOIS    STATE    REGISTER. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  obituary  notice  of 
Hon.  Stephen  T.  Logan,  appearing  in  the  daily  Illinois 
State  Register,  July  17,  1880 : 

This  old  and  respected  citizen  died  shortly  after  one 
o'clock  last  night,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-one 
years.      Though  his   departure   from  this  life  was  not 


84  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

unexpected,  yet  it  filled  his  many  friends  and  relatives 
in  tins  city  with  the  deepest  grief,  for  he  was  a  man  who 
will  be  missed  and  never  forgotten.  The  Register  regrets 
that  it  is  unable,  owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  to 
give  the  full  particulars  of  the  life  of  such  an  honored 
citizen ;  but  the  following  brief  sketch  will  supply  an  out- 
line of  his  career.  [Then  followed  some  notice  of  the 
principal  events  of  his  life.] 

In  its  issue  of  the  next  day,  the  Register  has  this  brief 
editorial  article  on  the  same  subject : 

The  death  of  Judge  S.  T.  Logan  was  properly  an- 
nounced in  the  Register  yesterday  morning,  and  the  event 
was  a  surprise  to  the  public,  though  the  age  of  the  distin- 
guished man  should  have,  in  some  degree,  prepared  the 
community  for  the  event.  The  flags  at  half-mast  yester- 
day on  the  County  Court  House,  and  on  the  State  Capitol, 
were  evidence  of  the  decease  of  an  ex-Eepresentative  of 
the  county,  and  of  a  retired  Judge  of  the  State.  Judge 
Logan  was  widely  known  and  highly  respected,  and 
though  the  Register  has  never  been  in  sympathy  with  his 
political  opinions,  it  offers  its  tribute  of  respect  to  his 
memory  as  a  good  citizen,  an  honest  man,  and  an  upright 
Judge. 


HON.    JAS.    C.    CONKLING  S    TRIBUTE. 

On  the  evening  of  the  12th  of  January,  Hon  James  C. 
Conkling,  of  Springfield,  delivered  an  elaborate  lecture 
before  the  Bar  Association  of  Chicago,  on  the  "Early 
Bench  and  Bar"  of  Central  Illmois,  in  which  he  paid  the 
following  graceful  tribute  to  Judge  Logan  : 

One  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  most  intimate  friends,  and  a 
partner  in  the  practice  of  law  for  some  years,  and  one  of 
the  most  successful  lawyers  of  this  State,  was  Stephen 


MEMOIKS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  85 

T.  Logan,  of  Sangamon  County.  He  came  from  Ken- 
tucky when  32  years  of  age,  bringing  with  him  a  high 
reputation,  and  soon  obtained  a  leading  position  at  the 
Springfield  bar,  which  was  then,  and  afterwards,  during 
his  career,  adorned  by  such  distinguished  lawyers  as 
Baker,  Stuart,  Lincoln,  Douglas,  McDougal,  Strong, 
Hay,  Edwards,  Palmer,  McClernand,  and  others.  In 
1835  he  was  elected  Circuit  Judge  by  the  Legislature,  and 
after  serving  in  that  capacity  about  two  years,  he  resigned 
because  of  the  inadequacy  of  his  salary.  He  was  elected 
several  times  to  the  Legislature,  and  always  took  a  prom- 
inent part  in  debate.  His  opinions  were  received  with 
deference,  and  he  exercised  an  extraordinary  influence 
by  the  integrity  of  his  character  and  his  fan-ness  in  dis- 
cussion. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1847,  and  by  his  characteristic  wisdom,  prudence,  and 
economy,  materially  assisted  in  the  adoption  of  some  of 
the  best  provisions  of  that  Constitution. 

In  1848  he  was  nominated  as  the  Whig  candidate  for 
Congress  in  his  district,  in  opposition  to  Col,  Thomas  L. 
Harris,  who  had  just  returned  from  a  brilliant  career 
in  Mexico,  with  his  brow  adorned  with  military  laurels. 
Lincoln,  Baker  and  Logan  then  constituted  a  triumvirate, 
and  were  the  three  political  leaders  in  their  Congressional 
District.  Each  was  ambitious  to  serve  his  country  at 
Washington  City.  It  was  understood  that  they  would  be 
candidates  in  rotation.  Baker  had  been  elected,  and  was 
occupying  his  seat  when  the  war  with  Mexico  commenced. 
Lincoln  succeeded  him,  according  to  agreement.  Logan, 
in  his  turn,  became  candidate,  but  being  utterly  destitute 
of  those  qualities  which  win  the  popular  heart,  and  being 
opposed  by  a  gallant  soldier,  who  had  achieved  success 
in  the  battlefield,  he  was  signally  defeated.      He  was  too 


86  MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN. 

honest  in  the  declaration  of  his  principles  to  succeed  in 
political  life,  and  would  never  condescend  to  the  arts  and 
chicanery  by  which  demagogues  are  accustomed  to 
clamber  into  office. 

He  was  appointed  by  Gov.  Yates  one  of  the  five  com- 
missioners to  represent  the  State  in  the  celebrated  Peace 
Convention  which  met  at  Washington  prior  to  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's inauguration.  His  efforts  there  were  conservative 
in  character,  and  he  pleaded  powerfully  for  the  preser- 
vation of  peace.     In  one  of  his  speeches  he  remarked : 

"  Instead  of  dreaming  of  news  from  the  seat  of  war, 
and  of  marching  armies,  I  have  thought  of  a  country 
through  which  armies  have  marched,  leaving  in  their 
track  the  desolation  of  a  desert ;  I  have  thought  of  har- 
vests trampled  down,  of  towns  and  villages,  once  the  seat 
of  happiness  and  prosperity,  reduced  to  heaps  of  smoking 
ruins ;  of  battle-fields  red  with  blood,  which  has  been 
shed  by  those  who  ought  to  have  been  brothers  ;  of  fami- 
lies broken  up,  or  reduced  to  poverty ;  of  widowed  wives, 
of  orphaned  children,  and  all  the  other  misfortunes  which 
are  inseparably  connected  with  war.  This  is  the  picture 
which  presents  itself  to  my  mind  every  day  and  every 
hour.  It  is  a  picture  which  we  are  doomed  soon  to  wit- 
ness in  our  country,  unless  we  place  a  restraint  upon  our 
passions,  forget  our  selfish  interests,  and  do  something 
to  save  our  country." 

In  his  professional  career  he  stood  preeminent.  He 
possessed  the  rare  faculty  of  perceiving  almost  intuitively 
the  strong  points  of  a  case,  and  the  remarkable  power  of 
making  clear  and  distinct  to  a  court  or  a  jury,  the  per- 
ceptions which  he  himself  entertained.  Distinctions, 
which  to  others  would  possess  no  difference,  were  recog- 
nized by  the  extraordinary  keenness  of  his  intellect,  and 
magnified  by  the  lucid  character  of  his  argument,  until 


MEMOIRS  OF  STEPHEN  T.  LOGAN.  87 

courts  and  juries  were  convinced  of  the  correctness  of 
his  views.  He  won  many  a  triumph  by  the  fairness  of 
his  statements  and  the  logical  precision  of  his  speeches. 
He  disdained  the  arts  of  sophistry,  and  appealed  gener- 
ally to  the  understanding  of  his  hearers,  though  there 
were  occasions  when  he  w^ould  indulge  in  the  flower  of 
rhetoric  and  attempt  to  move  a  jury  by  an  earnest  and 
impassioned  eloquence.  He  was  universally  recognized 
by  the  bench  and  the  bar  as  the  great  nisi  priiis  lawyer 
of  the  State,  and  clients,  who  were  fortunate  enough  to 
secure  his  services  considered  it  as  a  sure  presage  of 
victory. 

He  was  small  in  stature  and  frail  in  constitution,  Ijut  a 
piercing,  deep-set  eye,  and  a  large  cranial  development, 
imparted  a  highly  intellectual  appearance  to  his  almost 
infantile  features.  He  died  at  the  age  of  80,  although  I 
have  heard  him  say,  nearly  forty  years  ago,  that  he  did 
not  expect  to  live  beyond  sixty  years  of  age.  He  will 
long  be  remembered  for  his  public  services  as  a  legislator, 
for  his  ability  as  a  judge,  and  for  his  eminent  success  as 
a  lawyer. 


